Deadly week for snowmobile accidents

It’s been a deadly week for snowmobile accidents across the country.

In Illinois, a 39-year-old Volo man was killed in a snowmobile crash in Wauconda Friday evening, according to the Northwest Herald.

The newspaper quotes a Lake County Forest Preserve District Police report that said the man was snowmobiling off marked trails when he hit a cable gate.

Earlier this week, a 32-year-old Lincoln man was killed in an accident in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department says David McEntire of Lincoln, Ill., was on a trail with a group of other snowmobiles when he lost control of his machine and hit a tree Friday.

The accident happened near the unincorporated community of Lac La Belle, not far from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Fatalities have been reported in several other states, including Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts and Wisconsin.

Fort Wayne boy, 12, dies after snowmobile crash

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Indiana conservation officers say a 12-year-old Fort Wayne boy has died after driving a snowmobile into a tree in the yard of his home.

Officers say the Connor Kitchen suffered severe head injuries in the crash Saturday afternoon. He died a few hours later at Parkview Hospital.

Officers say the boy’s father, 48-year-old Kyle Kitchen, was riding on the snowmobile helping his son operate the sled when the boy unexpectedly accelerated, throwing his father from the vehicle. The snowmobile traveling through some brush and into a wooded area where it ran head-on into a tree.

Neither the boy nor his father was wearing a helmet.

3 Maine snowmobile deaths in weekend

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Warden Service is urging snowmobilers to operate safely following a weekend involving three fatal crashes and other crashes involving injuries and property damage.

Warden Maj. Greg Sanborn says snowmobilers must use good judgment and common sense, never drive beyond the capabilities of the operator or machine, and never drink and drive.

Snowmobiler deaths occurred in Mariaville, (muh-RYE-uh-ville), where the body of 49-year-old Matthew Divello of Mariaville was recovered Saturday from Graham Lake.

In Dallas Plantation, 61-year-old Odias Bachelder of Lang Township was killed Saturday afternoon when his snowmobile left the trail and he was ejected.

In Lee, 56-year-old Mark Roux of Lee was killed when he crashed into woods near Big Green Pond shore..

Four other accidents resulted in injuries.

Mass. man dies after falling through ice on pond

DUDLEY, Mass. (AP) — Authorities say a Massachusetts man has died after falling through the ice while snowmobiling with friends.

Dudley Fire Chief Dean Kochanowski says the men were snowmobiling Saturday night on Hayden Pond when the ice cracked under them, and that one man was under the water for at least 15 minutes before divers could rescue him.

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said Sunday that the man had died, and identified him as 27-year-old Richard Redfield of Southbridge.

Thirty-seven-year-old Dudley resident Jeffrey Lougie and 47-year-old Wayne Montigny of Killingly, Conn., were pulled from the water by local fire and rescue crews. Their injuries were not deemed life-threatening.

Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the district attorney’s office are investigating along with state Environmental Police and Dudley police.

Snowmobiler dies in Wisconsin, 6-year-old hurt

SHELL LAKE, Wis. (AP) — A 24-year-old snowmobiler died when he ran into a barbed-wire fence and trees in northwestern Wisconsin’s Washburn County.

The Star Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/ypcH1Ghttp://bit.ly/ypcH1G ) Ryan Anderson of Sarona died Sunday in an ambulance on the way to a hospital. A 6-year-old girl who was a passenger on the sled was injured.

She’s hospitalized in Duluth, Minn., and is in stable condition.

Washburn County Sheriff Terry Dryden says the crash happened Sunday afternoon on Devils Lake Road in Madge Township.

Authorities say Anderson failed to negotiate a corner and crashed into the fence and trees. The accident is being investigation.

Wis. man dies in Mich. snowmobile crash

WATERSMEET TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Police say a 69-year-old Wisconsin man has died following a snowmobile crash in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Police said in a statement that Paul Nelson of Onalaska died after the crash Thursday afternoon in Gogebic County’s Watersmeet Township.

Police said speed may have been a factor in the crash, which was under investigation.