Snowmobile incidents leave 3 dead in Ontario's cottage country

Ontario Provincial Police say three people have died in two separate snowmobile accidents in south-central Ontario.

Police in Georgian Bay Township say they received a report of a single-vehicle collision early Saturdayin an isolated spot on Go Home Lake, which is located 193 kilometres north of Toronto.

The ice on the lake was unstable, so provincial police called in a Canadian Armed Forces rescue crew to help in the search and rescue process.

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Two male riders of the snowmobile were located and airlifted to a hospital inParry Sound, Ont., where they were both pronounced dead.Police have identified them as 25-year-old James Bates of Milton, Ont., and 22-year-old Jeffery Dunlop of Pickering, Ont.

Several hours earlier, on Friday evening, police in Haliburton County say they received a report that a snowmobile went through the waters of Dark Lake in Highlands East Township, which is located 246 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

Authorities say they found the body of Thomas Rivers, 53, after several hours of searching. The three other snowmobilers were located earlier.