Mayor of Humboldt calls death of child, 2 adults who fell through ice 'extremely tragic'
CBC
The mayor of Humboldt, Sask., says Saturday was a "sad day" for the town of approximately 6,000 residents after three people, including a child, died after falling through the ice on nearby Humboldt Lake.
"The loss of one life is tragic, but the loss of three is extremely tragic," said Michael Behiel on Monday.
The three people were among five that fell through the ice at Humboldt Lake, which is also known as Stoney Lake and located 116 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
RCMP responded to the lake at approximately 2:20 p.m. CST on Saturday after receiving reports that multiple people had fallen through the ice.
First responders were only able to recover three of the five people seen falling into the lake. One of them, a female child, was pronounced dead at the scene. An adult woman and another female child were taken to a nearby hospital. An RCMP recovery team later found the bodies of the two other people, both adult men.
"The young girl is is part of the family of Humboldt and you know … they're all roots from around this area, if not directly in Humboldt," said Behiel.
Shelby Rushton, provincial CEO of the Lifesaving Society, described the news as "a real gut punch"
"It's a reminder that we all need to keep safe around ice and know that this time of year, we've only had two weeks of cold weather. So we don't have enough ice thickness to safely be on the ice," Rushton said.
Behiel echoed Rushton's comments.
He urged people to obey water safety rules, to keep a look out for the signs that are posted and to no venture out on ice if it is not safe to do so.
"If you're not sure, don't go. Better to err on the side of caution than to have a tragic event happen," Beheil said.
Rushton said it's rare to hear of drowning deaths at this time of year.
"We hear a lot of near misses, especially with dog walkers. They go out on the ponds and their dog tries to go after their Canada geese and they get in trouble. But we don't necessarily hear of fatalities at this time of year from going through ice."
Rushton said the best thing to do if you see someone that's fallen through the ice is call 911.
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