湖の氷分離で立往生　釣り人２００人救助　米

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米北部ミネソタ州の湖で２８日、凍った湖面の一部が分離し、アイスフィッシング（穴釣り）をしていた約２００人が氷上に取り残される出来事があり、大規模な救助活動が行われた。（資料写真）
　同州は１万個以上の湖があることで知られ、冬には多くの人が穴釣りに興じる。
　地元ベルトラミ郡保安官事務所がフェイスブックで発表したところによると、アッパーレッド湖でこの日、人々がシーズン初めの穴釣りを楽しんでいたところ、足元の氷が湖畔からゆっくりと流されていることに一部の人が気付き、緊急通報した。
　保安官事務所の職員らが到着した際、現場では凍った湖面の広範囲が分離しており、水面が約３０メートルにわたり釣り人と湖畔を隔てていた。
　釣り人の中には、氷が分離したことに気付いていない人もいた。当局は、ボートや全地形万能車（ＡＴＶ）、ドローン、仮設橋などを使い、３時間以上かけて釣り人たちを避難させたという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/11/30-17:14）

About 200 early-season ice fishers were caught by surprise and stranded in a Minnesota lake when the frozen slab under their feet broke free and drifted into open water -- triggering a complex rescue operation.
A member of the group called emergency services Monday when they realized the people ice fishing -- a popular winter sport in the northern US state known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes -- were slowly drifting away from the shoreline of Upper Red Lake, local police said on Facebook.
The Beltrami County Sheriff's Office and other first responders arrived on scene and discovered a large portion of the ice with up to 30 yards (27 meters) of open water stranding the fishermen, Chief Deputy Jarrett Walton said in a statement.
Some of the group had not even realized the ice floe had snapped free. But due to the urgent nature of getting people off the ice, Beltrami County sent out an alert to the fishermen's cellphones to notify them they would soon be rescued in an emergency evacuation.
The alert allowed notifications to be sent to cell phones of those who are not enrolled in the local notification system and provided GPS coordinates of the evacuation site, the sheriff's department said.
It took over three hours to complete the evacuate from the ice.
A number of apparatus were deployed including airboats, water rescue boats, ATVs, drones and a temporary bridge, the sheriff's department said.
It also warned other local fisherman to use extreme caution on unsteady ice.
The Beltrami County Sheriff's Office reminds those who are thinking of heading on the ice that early season ice is very unpredictable, the statement said.