A commercial transport vehicle commonly known as a "bomber" crashed through the ice on Lake of the Woods in the Northwest Angle on Thursday morning, killing one of the passengers.
It is believed to be Minnesota's second ice fishing fatality of the season.
The accident near Flag Island up north was reported shortly after 8 a.m. The body of a male passenger was recovered about seven hours later in about 10 feet of water by a Cass County dive team, according to a statement from the Lake of the Woods County Sheriff's Office. The statement provided no other details, saying the incident was under investigation and that family members of the deceased were still being notified.
Paul Colson, owner of Jake's Northwest Angle Resort, said a neighboring resort was operating the Bombardier snow bus when it broke through the ice about 900 yards south of Flag Island. Several passengers, perhaps five or six, escaped from the water with the help of the driver, Colson said.
The last fatal accident on Lake of the Woods involving a commercial transport vehicle during an ice fishing run was 1996, Colson said.
He said the rear end of the bomber crashed through the ice Thursday and bottomed out on the lake's floor. The front end remained elevated on broken ice. Colson said he checked the depth of the ice with his chain saw while at the scene, measuring 12 inches of ice.
"I was expecting to find thin ice but I found a foot of ice all around the machine,'' Colson said. "You'd be hard-pressed to find better ice anywhere in Minnesota right now.''
Colson said his resort stayed out of the ice fishing business this season but not because of ice conditions or weather. He said local ice fishing outfitters, including himself, consider 12 inches enough to support a bomber carrying passengers.
