The accident happened in Mustasaari in Ostrobothnia.
Ice let down two snowmobile riders in Mustasaari in Ostrobothnia, says the maritime rescue director of the Western Finland Coast Guard Jussi Ikola.
The sledders had driven their sleds into a narrow, where there was a very thin layer of ice, only about two centimeters thick.
“According to what they said, it was about 70-80 meters to the beach,” Ikola told STT on Saturday evening.
The cold and wet sledders escaped to a nearby island.
After being forced into the water, they had swam towards the island, breaking the ice ahead of them.
“After the ice had thickened as the shore approached”, they had reached the ice and then onto the island.
Calling for help was not easy with a wet phone.
“They didn’t hear us, but we heard them.”
In the end, those involved in the accident sent a text message to a bystander, who made another alarm to the emergency center.
To the place the rescue service, first aid and sea guard units left. The rescuers couldn’t get to the site on the ice either, but they got there with the hydrocopter of the rescue service.
The sledders were evacuated to the roadside, where the ambulances were waiting.
“Cold, but in relatively good shape”, Ikola describes the condition of the sledders.
They were transported to be checked for further treatment.
According to Ikola, the thickness of the ice varies a lot in the area.
“There is really little ice in some places,” warns Ikola.
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