A tourist is dead and two others are missing after an ice cave partially collapsed in southern Iceland while a group was visiting the Bredamarkjökull glacier on Sunday.
A group of about 25 foreign tourists of various nationalities were exploring the ice caves with a guide shortly before 3 p.m., local police said in a statement on social media. Affected by
One tourist succumbed to his injuries, while another suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to a hospital in the capital, officials said.
Local news agencies reported that around 200 rescuers began a relentless search for the two missing men, although the mission was called off after dark due to what local police described as “difficult” conditions. The search was to resume on Monday morning.
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Breidamerkurjokull Glacier is a piedmont glacier in the southern part of Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images, File)
Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that rescue workers had to cut through the ice by hand using chain saws as the rugged glacier terrain proved difficult to transport additional equipment and personnel.
A group of 25 foreign tourists of various nationalities were exploring the ice caves with a guide on Sunday, as shown in the photo above, local officials said. (Sven-Erik Arndt/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
According to the BBC, local police chief superintendent Sven Kristjan Runnarsson told Icelandic TV that there was no evidence that the guided cave tour should not have taken place.
Bredamarkrjökull glacier seen below the Vatnajökull ice cap near Hoff, Iceland. Rescue workers are searching for two tourists who went missing on the glacier after an incident in an ice cave on Sunday. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images, File)
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“These are experienced and powerful mountain guides who run these trips,” said Runarson. “It's always possible to be unlucky, I trust those people to assess the situation – when it's safe to go or not, and there's been good work done over time. It's a living Earth, so something Might as well be.”
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The collapse was not likely due to a volcanic eruption in southeast Iceland on Friday, which was about 185 miles from the glacier.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.