'Ice can be very deceiving,' warns expert after recent tragedies
CBC
There are renewed warnings about the dangers of venturing onto thin ice or near bodies of water after several recent incidents where people have drowned in lakes and rivers across Canada.
Four teenagers fell into the Rideau River in south Ottawa on Wednesday night. They'd reportedly been skating and fell through the ice.
Two teens got out of the water and were taken to hospital to be treated for mild hypothermia, while divers recovered the bodies of 17-year-old Ahmed Ahmed and another 16-year-old boy who hasn't yet been named.
The tragedy follows the deaths of a family in Alberta reported missing Christmas Day after going off-roading in Lac Ste. Anne County and the death of a man who fell through the ice on Calgary's Bow River the same day.
The search continues for the body of a four-year-old girl who fell into the Mistassibi River in Quebec while sledding with her mother last Friday.
"Ice can be very deceiving … People are looking at the ice thinking that it's solid when it's not," said Stephanie Bakalar, corporate communications manager with the Lifesaving Society in Ontario.
She said about a third of all drownings in Canada happen between October and May because of thin ice and frigid water.
WATCH | Some of her safety advice:
Bakalar said temperature fluctuations, such as what Ottawa has experienced over the past month, can be especially dangerous.
"Maybe to your eye it looks like it's frozen, but underneath it's likely not. As temperatures go up and down, it'll sort of freeze a little, melt a little, refreeze a little; this results in what we call 'dirty ice' and this is very unsafe," Bakalar said.
She said people should measure the ice's thickness using an auger, a device that allows you to drill down and take a sample core of the ice.
The ice needs to be at least 10 centimetres thick to carry the weight of a single person, she said, and thicker if there are more people.
If you take a car onto the ice, the ice should be at least 20 to 30 centimetres thick.
The area where the Ottawa teens fell in is near locks on the Rideau River and is a popular skating spot, according to the local councillor.
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