The rescue required a coordinated multi-agency response — police aviation and marine units alongside fire departments from across the Georgian Triangle — with a nearby golf course serving as a staging area for aerial operations and triage.
OWEN SOUND, Ontario — Canadian police airlifted 23 people to safety Sunday after an ice shelf broke away from the shore of Georgian Bay in southwestern Ontario, drifted more than a mile into open water, and split into sections that left some victims partially submerged in near-freezing temperatures, the Ontario Provincial Police said.
The Grey-Bruce detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police said it received a report of numerous people stranded on the ice Sunday afternoon. Emergency responders from police aviation and marine units and fire departments from counties around the Georgian Triangle answered the calls for help.
The Cobble Beach Golf Course opened its facility to serve as a staging area for aviation units and triage operations, police said.
By mid-afternoon, all 23 had been safely airlifted back to shore. Police said injuries were minor and included hypothermia.