Beware thin ice!

Ice conditions across entire country are treacherously weak

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Bright shining ice tempted sports enthusasts to go for a walk at the weekend, and all too many people enjoying the fresh air fell through the weak ice.
      Rescue services had more than enough assignments, as they had to pick up those who had plunged into the cold water. However, it was apparent on Sunday night, that no drownings had occurred.
     
In Savitaipale, a municipality near Lappeenranta, two skating women with a dog suddenly fell through into the water on Sunday. One of the women escaped from drowning by herself, but the other woman and the dog were rescued by some people who came by boat from a nearby cottage.
     
In Kaavi, located in the province of Eastern Finland, the Emergency Response Centre was summoned when it appeared that a passenger car had partly submerged in a lake.
      However, the observation had been made from ashore several hundred metres away, and there was actually no need for help. The car had been driven to the shore of an island and the passengers were not in any danger.
      A large number of people were moving on the ice of the lake, but ”obviously the local residents knew the weak patches with currents and how to avoid them”, the Emergency Response Centre of Nilsiä reported.
      A false alarm also occurred in Kuopio, where a crowd of children were playing on the shores of Väinölänniemi, but no accident had happened.
     
According to statistics, the thickness of ice was still below the average in many places last week, and on Sunday the ERC warned people against moving on the ice.
      For example the ice in Lake Päijänne at the Tehi open water area was last week still too weak to be measured, while deviations from the average were significant in various parts of the country.
      Last weekend, even the City of Helsinki Rescue Department was busy, as many people defied the warnings and at least three people fell through ice and nearly drowned.
      ”Please do not go for a walk on the ice. It is not thick enough to carry a person’s weight. In particular near the shore and on the spots with currents the ice is definitely too weak to carry a person's weight”, warned Jari Korkiamäki from the Helsinki Rescue Department.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Weak ice situation has led to more drownings than for many years (18.3.2008)
  Ice road across Lake Pielinen opens - several weeks late (8.2.2008)

Links:
  The Finnish Association for Swimming Instruction and Life Saving (SUH)
  Finnish Meteorological Institute

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