Divers find tractor teen's body under the ice
The 17-year-old boy who went missing on Christmas Day when his tractor plunged through the ice was found dead on Friday afternoon.
"He was found at lunch time with the help of an underwater camera that was used to find the body," said Tommy Lindh of the Värmlands police to the Expressen newspaper.
The boy was out on a tractor with a friend late on Christmas Even on Lake Lillsjön, northwest of Sunne in western Sweden, when the pair plunged into the icy water below.
The 17-year-old's companion managed to get to safety, but his friend never resurfaced.
Emergency services were called immediately, but it wasn't until the early hours of the morning, however, that divers could begin searching for the body.
The tractor was found the next day 11 metres below the surface.
The boys were reportedly trying to clear snow off the lake's surface with the tractor.
"They were trying to plough a track on the ice. I think they were eventually planning to make a track to drive cars on," said Lennart Edvardsson, head of emergency services in Sunne, to P4 Värmland at the time.
Police said it took so long to find the body because of unfavourable conditions beneath the ice, which may also have led to the ice breaking in the first place.
Local police spokesperson Thomas Hertzberg said the lake muddy bed emitted swamp gas that most likely contributed to the accident.
"The gas may have weakened the ice from below, as this ice was thick enough to carry the weight of a tractor," he told the Nya Wermlands-Tidningen newspaper.
TT/The Local/og
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"He was found at lunch time with the help of an underwater camera that was used to find the body," said Tommy Lindh of the Värmlands police to the Expressen newspaper.
The boy was out on a tractor with a friend late on Christmas Even on Lake Lillsjön, northwest of Sunne in western Sweden, when the pair plunged into the icy water below.
The 17-year-old's companion managed to get to safety, but his friend never resurfaced.
Emergency services were called immediately, but it wasn't until the early hours of the morning, however, that divers could begin searching for the body.
The tractor was found the next day 11 metres below the surface.
The boys were reportedly trying to clear snow off the lake's surface with the tractor.
"They were trying to plough a track on the ice. I think they were eventually planning to make a track to drive cars on," said Lennart Edvardsson, head of emergency services in Sunne, to P4 Värmland at the time.
Police said it took so long to find the body because of unfavourable conditions beneath the ice, which may also have led to the ice breaking in the first place.
Local police spokesperson Thomas Hertzberg said the lake muddy bed emitted swamp gas that most likely contributed to the accident.
"The gas may have weakened the ice from below, as this ice was thick enough to carry the weight of a tractor," he told the Nya Wermlands-Tidningen newspaper.
TT/The Local/og
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