Rescuers save snowmobiler after two hours in freezing Lake Inari waters

The Lapland Emergency Services rescued a snowmobiler who had fallen into the icy waters of Lake Inari on Tuesday, surviving for nearly two hours while clinging to the edge of the ice, Yle reports.

The individual was unable to climb back onto the ice because the slushy surface kept breaking beneath them, according to emergency responders. A companion on shore encouraged them to hold on until help arrived.

Duty fire chief Jukka Huttunen described the conditions as extremely challenging. “It’s remarkable that the person endured in the water for almost two hours,” he said. “The fact that someone was on shore urging them to keep fighting was crucial.”

Rescue teams faced their own obstacles reaching the scene. “We drove as far as we could by car—about five kilometres from the accident site—then continued by snowmobile. For the last 200 metres, we had to swim through slush ice,” Huttunen explained.

The rescued individual was transferred to medical care upon extraction.