Popular tourist destination in Iceland One dead and missing after ice cave collapse
The area around the Jökulsarlon glacier lagoon in Iceland is popular with tourists. One highlight: guided tours through ice caves. But then an accident happens.
26.08.2024, 05:00
26.08.2024, 06:11
dpa
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- One person was fatally injured in the collapse of an ice cave in Iceland, one seriously injured person was taken to hospital and two people are still missing.
- The cave is a popular tourist destination in the Breidamerkurjökull glacier.
- Dozens of rescue workers, including specialized cave rescuers, and two helicopters were deployed.
One person has died in the collapse of an ice cave in Iceland, two people are still trapped in the cave and one person was seriously injured. This was announced by the authorities on Facebook late on Sunday evening. The people were part of a group of 25 tourists who were visiting the cave in the Breidamerkurjökull glacier as part of a guided tour when the accident happened.
Around 100 rescue workers, including specialized cave rescuers, and helicopters were deployed. The conditions for the search on the glacier became even more difficult as darkness fell, which is why the search was temporarily suspended, the police said. It will be resumed at dawn on Monday morning.
A senior police officer, Sveinn Kristján Rúnarsson, told RÚV that the rescuers were unable to bring heavy rescue equipment onto the glacier and had to work "more or less entirely by hand" in the search for the missing. There is still no contact with the two people trapped in the ice, he said.
One of Iceland's biggest tourist attractions
One of the people seriously injured in the collapse was pronounced dead at the scene. The other seriously injured person was flown to a hospital in the capital Reykjavik, the police said. His condition was stable.
Three helicopters were standing by for other injured people. A tourist who had visited the cave a few minutes earlier, but only heard about the collapse on his return to the hotel, told the radio station that it was only three to five meters deep.
Breidamerkurjökull in the south-east of the Atlantic island is an offshoot of the Vatnajökull glacier, which lies on the Jökulsarlon glacier lagoon. The lake with its floating icebergs is one of Iceland's biggest tourist attractions and has been the location for famous Hollywood films such as "James Bond" and "Tomb Raider" with Angelina Jolie. Numerous hikes through ice caves are offered in the region.