One person has died and two are missing after an ice cave collapsed on tourists on the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland.
At least one person has died and two others are still missing after an ice cave partially collapsed while a group of tourists visited the glacier Breidamerkurjokull, en el sur de Iceland.
In a statement published on social networks, the local police indicate that the first responders received a call shortly before 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, when a group of about 25 foreign tourists of various nationalities were exploring ice caves when four people were hit by ice.
Two of them were seriously injured: one died at the scenewhile the other was transported by helicopter to a hospital in the capital, where he is stable.
The steep terrain makes it difficult to transport rescue material
Numerous rescue teams worked throughout the afternoon and evening in the search for the two missing. The operation was interrupted at nightfall due to the dangerous conditionsbut it will resume in the morning, according to the Police.
Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV reported that efforts to transport equipment and personnel to the glacier had proven difficult due to the steep terrain and that the cutting of the ice had been done mainly by hand with chainsaws.
The ice cave is a popular destination among tourists
The local online news newspaper, Indicator He said the group was participating in a organized excursion for tourists to an ice cave glacier and was accompanied by a guide, but most of the visitors were outside the cave when it collapsed.
No relationship has been established between the collapse and Friday’s volcanic eruption in southeast Icelandabout 300
kilometers of the glacier.