Nebraska Game and Parks Commission officials are urging those planning a winter fishing expedition to use caution after two all-terrain vehicles broke through the ice of a northern Nebraska lake.

Conservation officer Heath Packett, of Gordon, says two ATVs carrying three riders broke through the ice on Cottonwood Lake in Cherry County on Monday. Packett says each of the riders safely escaped the frigid water, which was about 8 feet deep at the site of the accident.

The accident has prompted officials to ban the use of ATVs on the 680-acre lake. ATVs have also been prohibited on nearby Home Valley Lake.