MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Fire officials say a Goffstown man crashed his snowmobile through an icy river in Manchester and had to be pulled out of the water by friends who were ice fishing nearby.

Manchester Fire District Chief Al Poulin tells The Boston Globe that 54-yearold Rene Bedard hit a patch of thin ice on the Piscataquog River on Saturday afternoon.

The snowmobile fell seat-first through the ice. Officials say Bedard was thrown backward into the water.

Bedard’s friends rushed to help him out of the water. Bedard was warming up at a friend’s house before emergency crews arrived.

Fire officials say Bedard must remove the snowmobile from the river or face a fine.

The crash has been reported to the state Fish and Game Department.

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