NH man dies when snowmobile breaks through ice on Moosehead Lake

ROCKWOOD — A 56-year-old New Hampshire man died when his snowmobile broke through the ice Sunday evening on Moosehead Lake, game wardens said.

Steven Allard, of South Hampton, New Hampshire, was unresponsive when he was pulled from the water about an hour and 15 minutes after he crashed through the ice, wardens said. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Allard and his wife were returning to Rockwood Cottages on separate snowmobiles when he looped toward the mouth of Moose River where he broke through the ice. wardens said.

Using a rescue sled, Rockwood Fire and Rescue followed Allard’s snowmobile track and retrieved him several hundred yards from shore.

“Snowmobilers need to stay aware of their surroundings and understand that ice conditions can change quickly,” Maine Warden Sgt. Bill Chandler said Monday in a statement.

Ice in the area where the Moose River flows into the lake is never safe; there are marked trails on the lake so riders can avoid the area, he said.