3 children pulled from Minn. lake after boat capsizes

Published 7:03 am Sunday, April 8, 2012

BEMIDJI — Emergency crews pulled three young children from a northern Minnesota lake after the sailboat they were riding in capsized on Friday, sheriff’s officials said. Details about their conditions weren’t immediately released.

The children were unresponsive when rescue workers pulled them from Clearwater Lake and began CPR, Clearwater County Sheriff Mike Erickson said. Two of the children were taken by ambulance to a Bemidji hospital. The third was taken to Bagley then airlifted to a Fargo, N.D., hospital.

“It’s not a very good day today,” Erickson said.

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A caller reported around 3:15 p.m. Friday that a father and three children, ages 2, 6, and 8, were in the boat when it capsized. The father then swam to shore and summoned help.

The father was treated at the scene, which is about 20 miles northwest of Bemidji.

“Physically, he’s fine,” Erickson said.

Authorities have been cautioning Minnesota boaters about the dangers of cold-water shock and hypothermia from a sudden dunk into the state’s newly thawed lakes. Even though the air may feel warm, water temperatures may still be in the 40s or lower.

The air temperature around the time of the incident was 59 degrees with southeast winds at 22 mph.