A photo of a frozen car in ice has gone viral online after Lake Erie waters encased the vehicle parked nearby over the weekend.
The car's owner, 24-year-old Justin Yelen, told WKBW-TV that he left his vehicle overnight Sunday in the parking lot of Hoak's Restaurant in Hamburg, New York, after having drinks with friends.
"We were watching the Green Bay game on Sunday, and we might have watched some of the [Buffalo]
Sabres game, too," Yelen told The Buffalo News. "I kept on going outside to charge my phone, and my car didn't seem that bad."
Restaurant employees directed Yelen to move his vehicle on Sunday, but he left it in the lake-facing lot after opting to have someone else drive him home.
But by the next morning, the Mitsubishi Lancer was a total ice block after 40-mile-per-hour winds churned up the Lake Erie waters into the parking lot and out onto Route 5, forcing officials to close a stretch of the highway for a time, The News said.
"It's not going anywhere, that's for sure," Yelen said of his car, which was still frozen in place Tuesday.
A photo of the frozen vehicle took off online after it was posted on Twitter Monday.
"It almost looks like an ice sculpture, but there's a real car hidden under all that
ice," The Huffington Post's Ed Mazza wrote.
The photo brought a flurry of reactions on social media.
Yelen reportedly plans to use a power washer to crack through the ice. His dad, though, has other plans.
"Now I have another thing to try to figure out," dad Joe told WKBW-TV. "We're going to have to somehow tow it to a warm garage and get it warmed up. I'm leaving that up to Justin!"
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