BLUE EARTH — A young duck hunter on Rice Lake was injured Sunday morning after being hit in the head with shrapnel from an exploding shotgun barrel.

The hunter, who authorities have not identified, was airlifted to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester from United Hospital in Blue Earth. According to a Faribault County Sheriff’s Office news release, he is in stable condition.

The news release says the hunter was one of five “juveniles.” It does not indicate if they were boys or girls or teens or pre-teens or which cities they are from.

The incident occurred at 10:30 a.m., it says.

The release states a juvenile’s gun fell into the water, plugging the barrel with mud. A round was shot from the gun causing the end of the barrel to explode, and a piece of the barrel hit a young hunter standing nearby in the head.

The incident is under investigation by the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office. Calls to Sheriff Mike Gormley went unreturned. The press release does not indicate how the juveniles traveled from Rice Lake to Blue Earth. Also, Faribault County has two Rice Lakes, one west of Delavan and a smaller one south of Wells. It does not indicate at which Rice Lake the incident occurred.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Blue Earth Police Department assisted at the United Hospital emergency room.