COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A man riding a snowmobile on a frozen Oakland County lake died Sunday afternoon when his vehicle crashed through the ice.
According to authorities, the 26-year-old from Wixom was under the water for an hour before being removed by the Oakland County Dive Team.
It happened of Delmonte Street on Wolverine Lake in Commerce Township.
A fire chief told Local 4 the snowmobile went under at about 12:30 p.m. The man onboard began to sink deeper and deeper under the water while people nearby started to call 911.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team and Commerce Township Ice and Water Rescue were able to pull the man from the lake, but only after the young man had been underwater for quite some time.
First responders preformed CPR until the victim was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Despite that, others continue to take their chances on the ice, some of them even riding snowmobiles.
The Wolverine Lake Police Department is urging people to consider the dangers of being out on the lake. “No ice is safe ice,” the department posted on its official Facebook page. “Ice covered by snow always should be presumed unsafe.”
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office will investigate the incident.