Two people die after falling through ice on Lake Poinsett

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - One man and a boy are dead after an ice fishing accident on Lake Poinsett.

The Hamlin County Sheriff’s Office says it happened Saturday evening on the northern end of the lake, south of Stone Bridge.

The 60-year-old man and an 8-year-old boy were on an ATV when the the vehicle broke through the ice.

Emergency personnel from the Hamlin County Emergency Management, Codington Search and Rescue and Lake Norden Ambulance, and law enforcement from the Hamlin County Sheriff’s Office, South Dakota Game Fish and Parks, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol were dispatched to the scene.

The two people were pulled from the water and taken by Lake Norden Ambulances to Prairie Lakes Hospital in Watertown.

The two were pronounced dead at the hospital.

In a separate accident, a four-wheeler and shake broke through the ice on the northeast side of Lake Poinsett. Emergency personnel were called to the scene, and no injuries were reported in this incident.

The Hamlin County Sheriff’s Office cautions people going onto area lakes. Ice thickness changes from serval inches to just an inch in a matter of a foot distance.

According to the National Weather Service, the area is forecast to see high temperatures above or near freezing through the rest of the week with overnight lows mainly into the 20s.

This could continue to create hazardous conditions on Lake Poinsett and other nearby lakes.