2 snowmobile riders die after breaking through ice on Wisconsin lake

Two snowmobile riders died and a third survived after their machines plunged into a lake in north-central Wisconsin, authorities said Sunday.

The Oneida County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call about snowmobiles and their riders in the water on Lake Nokomis at about 3 a.m. Sunday. Authorities arrived and found that three snowmobiles and three riders had gone into the water. One rider was able to get out and make the 911 call. The other two riders were dead, according to the sheriff's office.

Authorities are withholding the names of the victims until family members are notified.

Above-normal temperatures and some rain in recent weeks have caused ice conditions to deteriorate on some lakes across the Upper Midwest, prompting authorities to issue warnings about thin ice.

Last week the Brown County Sheriff's Office in southern Minnesota reported that an ice fishing house broke through the ice on Lake Hanska near Godahl. No one was in the structure at the time and the owner was accounted for.

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