Ice Cave collapse; One dead, two missing ;
Wall at the entrance of an icecave in Breiðamerkurjöll, in Vatnajökull glacier, collapsed when a group of 25 foreign tourists was coming out from the cave. One was found dead at the site, and two are still missing, day after the accident. Around one hundred rescue workers are at the site, working in shifts. Breiðamerkurjökull is 350 km east of Reykjavik, Jökulsárlón, the glacier lagoon, one of Iceland’s top destinations, is nearby. About 25 companies offer guided tours to the Breðamerkurjöll ice caves year round. A new thing, a few years ago the ice cave season was from December to March, when it’s 100% safe to visit. Tour companies have been, for the last couple of years, offering trips, even during the summer, when it´s not safe. All for profit and pressure from all the foreign tourists visiting Iceland during the summer.
Ice Cave collapse; Update
Good news, and bad news. The police in South Iceland have said that the rescue operation at Breiðamerkurjökull ice cave is complete, it has come to light that no one is trapped under the ice. There were only 23 people part of the tour, not 25 as the travel agency had said. More than one hundred search and rescue workers, from all over Iceland, have been working at the site, trying to find the two missing persons, for almost twenty four hours. One American citizen died when the wall collapsed outside the ice cave, his girlfriend is at hospital in Reykjavík, safe. Police say that that visitor registration for the trip was not accurate, and led to misleading information about the number of participants.
Breiðamerkurjökull 25/08/2024 : A7R III, RX1R II – FE 1.4/24mm GM, 2.0/35mm Z
Photos & Text : Páll Stefánsson
