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Two Snowmobilers Die After Falling Through Ice on Montana Lake

A third man was pulled to safety by a fellow snowmobiler who crawled on his belly to save him, but two others were missing and later found dead.

Two snowmobilers were found dead after they fell through the frozen ice of a Montana lake, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office said.

The bodies were spotted by a helicopter and recovered at about 10 p.m. Friday, more than three hours after three people were reported missing on Seeley Lake, which is in a mountainous area about 100 miles south of Glacier National Park.

The missing men were part of a group of five snowmobilers crossing the frozen lake Friday, a sheriff’s official told NBC station KECI, and one of the men who made it across was able to belly crawl on the ice and save one of the three that plunged in the freezing water, pulling a 45-year-old man to safety. But the other two remained missing until a helicopter was able to spot them from the air.

None of the victims in the accident were identified by the sheriff’s office. Authorities said the 45-year-old suffered from hypothermia and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

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— Phil Helsel