(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
UPDATE: Monday, March 22 — The man’s body was recovered on March 20 with the assistance of the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team (HEART). RCMP and family members also attended the scene near the Winnipeg River.
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A 42-year-old man from the RM of Alexander is presumed to have drowned after his ATV broke through the ice on the Winnipeg River early Thursday.
Powerview RCMP responded to a report of an ATV going through the ice at around 1 a.m. and approached the river from an address located on Penelope Close.
As officers got closer, they could hear calls for help from a man who was in the water and clinging to a piece of ice.
The officers and a nearby volunteer firefighter walked onto the ice using several rescue ropes. As they moved in closer, the man began to struggle, went under the water and didn’t resurface.
Police say two men on separate ATVs were trying to cross the river when both machines broke through the ice. The other man, a 37-year-old from Great Falls, was able to pull himself out of the water. He was taken to a nearby home and treated by EMS for hypothermia.
Powerview RCMP and the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team continue to investigate.
