2 Polar Bear Hunters Rescued After Drifting for Week on Ice Floe
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COPENHAGEN — Two polar bear hunters were rescued after a week adrift on an ice floe off the northwestern coast of Greenland, but 16 sled dogs were lost, Copenhagen newspapers reported Tuesday.
Police in Qaanaag, Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, confirmed the report in a telephone call.
The hunters were following three polar bears on the ice off Greenland’s northwestern tip when a sudden storm caused the ice to break and they started drifting away from shore.
They survived on biscuits and other provisions, but 16 of their 29 dogs died, the reports said. The hunters shot nearby seals but could not collect them for food because the surrounding ice was new and thin.
When a police helicopter came to their rescue Saturday, the ice floe had already drifted back to land.
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