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18 People Rescued From Ice Floating In Lake Erie: US Coast Guard (Photos, Video)

Eighteen people were rescued from an ice floe– or a separated sheet of floating ice– in Lake Erie on Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard says.

Ice floe rescue

Ice floe rescue

Photo Credit: Facebook (NWS Cleveland; Catawba Island volunteer fire department)

A group of snowmobilers were trapped on the ice floe, the Coast Guard stationed at Marblehead said on its Facebook page on Monday.

The group was first aided by a "good Samaritan" with an airboat while an Air Station Detroit helicopter arrived to rescue them, the coast was to rescue the stranded group, the Coast Guard said in a tweet.

"The helicopter lowered its rescue swimmer and began hoisting operations while Station Marblehead's airboat got underway," the Coast Guard said in a statement to media.

The helicopter lifted seven people, the Coast Guard airboat rescued four and the person helping with another airboat rescued the other seven, the Coast Guard said.

No one required medical assistance, according to the Coast Guard.

The National Weather Service Cleveland had tweeted that high winds could cause the ice to separate from the shoreline writing:

"You are urged to stay off the ice on Lake Erie as there is the possibility that the ice will drift away from shore. Dangerous ice conditions could develop causing people to become trapped on the ice."

The NWS Cleveland has released a time-lapse video of aerial photographs of the break.

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