Arnolds Park, Iowa — Three people escaped injury when their ATV broke through the ice into frigid Lake Okoboji Saturday afternoon.
According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the trio consisted of two male and one female teenager who were attempting to move from East Okoboji Lake to West Okoboji, when their ATV and the trailer it was towing went through the ice underneath the bridge on Highway 71.
DNR officials say the trio was following tracks, probably from a snowmobile, and didn’t realize that the ice beneath the bridge was only about an inch thick.
Officials say the trio was able to get out of the water right away, and escaped injury, but the ATV and trailer sank. The DNR says traffic over the bridge was reduced to one lane while crews worked to retrieve the ATV and trailer.
DNR officials say the mishap should serve as a warning about the dangers of potentially thin ice. They say the ice may be 3-feet thick in some places, and less than an inch thick in others.
