Seeley Lake Montana - Two men have drowned to death and another hospitalized after their snowmobiles fell thorough the ice while they were trying to cross Seeley Lake.
According to reports, the incident happened on Friday around 6:45 p.m. when the group of five sledders went down while trying to cross the ice in Seeley Lake 30 miles northeast of Missoula.
Missoula County Sheriff's Office reports indicate that a man involved in the accident called to inform authorities about the accident near Seeley Lake Campground.
"There's an area there where it's very deep and it takes quite awhile to really build up any ice, and that area is real dangerous and that's what they hit," said Missoula County Sheriff's Office deputy Bob Parcell.
"If they had known it was there they wouldn't have gone anywhere near that and they didn't realize it and in the dark they flew up on that, and that's what got them in trouble."
Reports reveal that one of the men was rescued from the freezing water by a friend who crawled across the ice on his stomach to drag the drowning man to safety at around 8. p.m.
According to Paige Pavalone, Missoula County Sheriff's spokeswoman, the survivor is a 45-year-old who has since been transported to the St. Patrick Hospital where he received treatment for hypothermia.
Authorities mounted an extensive search and rescue operation for the other two men and also asked the Flathead County Sheriff's Office to assist in the effort.
The Flathead County Sheriff's Office responded to the call with a helicopter that flew across the lake hoping to spot the men. At around 10 p.m., officials spotted the pair and only confirmed their deaths after their bodies had been recovered.
Officials opened an investigation into what may have led to the accident. The names of the five sledders involved in the cold incident will not be disclosed until their families have been contacted.
Since it broke, news of the Seeley Lake Montana accident has gone viral on the Internet.
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