By Chelsea Laskowski

Deadly end to fall through ice near Cigar Lake

Nov 12, 2014 | 4:14 PM

A search crew has discovered a body a day after two snowmobilers fell through the ice near Cigar Lake.

Two men, both in their 60s, were snowmobiling on ice over local lakes and rivers on Tuesday morning before they hit thin ice.

A 64-year-old man managed to pull himself out of the water and over the ice before making it to a nearby cabin, according to reports given to the Wollaston Lake RCMP.

Once made aware of the incident about four hours later, the RCMP requested help from the Wollaston Lake Fourth Canadian Ranger Patrol Group.

“Canadian Rangers have grown up on that land for 30, 40, 50 years. They know where the ice will be thin and will be thick through their experience. They know where is safe to go,” Captain Steven Parker, unit public affairs representative with the patrol group.

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“It is very complex terrain. There are no roads anywhere, it’s all boat, snowmobile, or airplane, or helicopter.”

It wasn’t only the terrain that made the rangers necessary to speed up the search – it was also the search for the remote cabin.

A crew of four rangers and an RCMP officer took a chartered flight to Cameco’s Cigar Lake mine before they were driven to the cabin’s location.

The search concluded with the tragic discovery of the other man’s remains on Wednesday just before 1 p.m.

The 66-year-old’s body was beneath the ice, only five feet from where he went under and about 20 feet from the shore of the river he’d been travelling on.

The snowmobile was nearby with its nose lodged into the ice, according to the RMCP.

Based on how close the man was to where he was last seen, the RCMP reports the current wasn’t strong.

Captain Parker stated it was likely the current’s previous movement that likely led to the incident.

“The ice, parts of it are very navigable by snowmobile but there will be soft spots still where there might be an underwater current.”

A Wollaston Lake community member says there were blizzard-like conditions over the past few days and the family is going through a rough time.