CThe OPP are investigating a snowmobile fallen through the ice of the St. Lawrence River.
Passersby saw items strewn across the ice not far off the north shore of St. Regis Island in Akwesasne Mohawk territory on Tuesday morning.
The provincial police received a call about what appeared to be a snowmobile caught in the ice and boxes nearby.
The items, which were confirmed to be a snowmobile half submerged below the ice and cardboard boxes full of contraband cigarettes, could be seen from the shore of the river behind a restaurant on Highway 2 in Glen Walter.
OPP officers on the scene late in the morning said they were investigating the items on the ice as safely as possible.
"We can't assume what's out there," said one officer. "We're trying to get a hovercraft out here to take a look."
Within an hour, members of the Hogansburg-Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department arrived near the scene on the icy river in a hovercraft to investigate.
The firefighters found and removed several boxes of contraband cigarettes from atop the ice not far from the snowmobile, according to OPP Const. Paul Murphy.
Fire Chief Norman Peters said the firefighters were unable to move the snowmobile and didn't see any signs of a driver.
Murphy said a canvass of nearby residents yielded information that a man who had been driving the snowmobile safely made his way to the shore after the sled got stuck in the ice.
The firefighters found no other victims of the collision.
Considering the findings of the investigation and the delicate ice conditions, Murphy said it's unlikely the OPP will send divers in to look for other possible victims or retrieve the snowmobile until the ice melts.
"We can't risk going out to retrieve a snowmobile if the driver already got out," he said. "A snowmobile isn't worth the risk posed to our officers."