Experts, province urge caution over ice conditions after man dies in Hanover [Video]

The province, along with outdoor enthusiasts, are urging people to use caution near frozen bodies of water after a man died when his skid steer loader fell through the ice.

According to RCMP, the tragic incident happened in the afternoon on Dec. 24. Mounties said the 58-year-old man was using the skid steer to clear snow off a man-made pond on a rural property in the RM of Hanover, when the machine fell through, sinking to the bottom.

“This pond is approximately 20- to 30-feet deep,” said Sgt. Paul Manaigre.

Manaigre said by the time emergency crews arrived, the man had already been underwater for several hours. He added that the local fire department didn’t have the resources to go into the water and recover the equipment or the man’s body.

The Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team (HEART) was called in to help.

“We deployed a diver and he was …