Ice-bound Canadian ferry freed

SYDNEY, Nova Scotia, March 20 (UPI) -- A Canadian ferry trapped in ice for two days with more than 200 people aboard was freed by an icebreaker off Nova Scotia Thursday, maritime officials said.

The M.V. Caribou traveling from Newfoundland became stranded outside the Sydney Harbor Tuesday as high winds were condensing ice floes, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported. The largest icebreaker in the Canadian fleet, the Louis St. Laurent, was dispatched, and Thursday morning managed to zig-zag through the ice to clear a path, said officials with Marine Atlantic, which operates the ferries.

Hours earlier, a 28-year-old man complaining of chest pains had to be airlifted from the ferry, but hospital officials in Sydney said he was apparently suffering an anxiety attack.

Marine Atlantic said it was putting two additional ferries into service to ease the two-day backlog of people, vehicles and goods between the two provinces despite a forecast of high winds and freezing rain, the CBC said.