20 people rescued from ice floe in Lake Erie, Coast Guard says

PORT CLINTON, Ohio — Twenty people have been rescued from an ice floe in Lake Erie, the Coast Guard said Monday.

The Coast Guard’s Ninth District Great Lakes station said it received a report around 10:20 a.m. that people were stuck on a mile-long ice floe about a half-mile off Catawba Island State Park near Port Clinton, Ohio.

A Coast Guard helicopter was sent from Detroit Air Base and two airboats went to nearby Marblehead Station, Petty Officer Jessica Fontenette said. Rescuers from the Put-In-Bay Fire Department on South Bass Island and the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office also assisted.

The Coast Guard was able to save nine people; four others were rescued by the other agencies; and seven were able to get to shore themselves by airboat, she said. No injuries have been reported.