Two trapped after ice collapses in Iceland glacier

An American man has died in south Iceland after ice collapsed whereas he used to be on a neighborhood tour to a glacier, police stated.

A female tourist used to be injured, but she used to be taken to scientific institution and her lifestyles is no longer in hazard. The man and lady had been a pair and he or she is additionally a US citizen.

Police on the starting set up believed 25 of us had been on the tour and that two assorted of us had been trapped in the Breidamerkurjökull glacier. Rescuers spent most of a day procuring, but called off the operation on Monday after they cleared the ice and learned nobody.

Police stated the tour’s registration files used to be inaccurate and simplest 23 of us had been on it. Ice collapsed as the neighborhood used to be visiting an ice cave along with a guide on Sunday.

First responders bought a call magnificent sooner than 15:00 on Sunday about the collapse.

The uncover about the two of us believed to be trapped lasted till hour of darkness after which restarted at 07:00 on Monday.

Greater than 200 first responders participated in the search and rescue operation, with nearly all of the ice broken down and moved by hand.

Police thanked search and rescue groups, besides to tourists shut to the positioning, who assisted crews with accommodation and food for the previous 24 hours.

Talking on Icelandic TV, Chief Superintendent Rúnarsson stated there used to be nothing to indicate that the plod back and forth to the cave don’t rep taken explain.

“Ice cave excursions happen nearly your total year,” he stated

“These are skilled and great mountain guides who crawl these journeys. Or no longer it is continuously that you simply must perhaps well believe to be unlucky. I believe these of us to evaluate the get hold of 22 situation – when it is safe or no longer safe to head, and moral work has been performed there over time. Right here’s a living land, so the rest can happen.”

The police chief used to be quoted as announcing that of us had been standing in a ravine between cave mouths when an ice wall collapsed.

One tourist who witnessed the collapse told The Fresh York Times he watched as the tour guides rushed to organise a rescue effort.

“None of us knew every assorted,” stated Scott Stevens of Austin, Texas, who used to be on a tour along with his 10-year-extinct daughter. “We didn’t even talk every assorted’s languages.”

He stated that he used to be standing above the canyon when he heard a loud enlighten and saw guides attending to an injured individual.

“It used to be very surreal,” he stated, describing the chaotic scene.

Breidamerkurjökull is a glacial tongue which extends from the Vatnajökull glacier to the Jökulsárlón lagoon. The glacial tongue is famed for its ice caves, with groups offering excursions.