Tourist dies and another seriously injured after ice cave collapses in Iceland

Rescue teams work at the scene after an ice cave partially collapsed, at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier, in southeastern Iceland, Monday, Aug, 26, 2024. (STOD2/ Vilhelm Gunnarsson via AP)
Rescue teams work at the scene at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier. Credit: AP

One tourist has died and another has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after an ice cave partially collapsed in southern Iceland.

A group of foreign tourists was exploring the ice caves near the Breidamerkurjokull Glacier as part of a guided tour when four people were hit by ice shortly before 3pm on Sunday.

Most were outside the cave when it collapsed, according to local reports, but one man died at the scene, while a woman was injured and transported to a hospital in Reykjavik by helicopter.

Both victims are American citizens, according to police, and the woman is said to now be in a stable condition.

Police had mounted a large-scale rescue operation with as many a 200 rescuers sifting through the icy rubble by hand to find two people they believed to be missing.

Authorities later said they were satisfied no one else was missing. Credit: AP

However, after examining the tour operator's records and finding that only 23 people were on the ice cave tour, not 25 as was first believed. Police said there had been “misleading information” about the number of people on the trip.

Even so, rescuers continued the search until all of the collapsed ice had been moved to be sure that no one had been left behind.

The search, which was suspended overnight when conditions made it too dangerous, had resumed at about 7am, Icelandic broadcaster RUV reported. Video showed rescuers working inside two large craters surrounded by the sand-blackened ice of the Breidamerkurjokull glacier.

The Association of Icelandic Mountain Guides called for a full investigation and tighter regulations on ice cave tours. It says glacier trips during the warmer summer months can be very dangerous.

The tourism agency is working on a report for the government to discuss regulations, and Minister of Tourism Lilja Alfredsdóttir said that the matter will be discussed in parliament.

Glaciers cover about 11% of Iceland, the largest of which is Vatnajokull, covering an area of 3,050 square miles.

Breidamerkurjokull is a tongue of Vatnajokull that ends at the Jokulsarlon Lagoon, where icebergs constantly break off from the glacier.Moving rescue equipment and personnel up to the glacier was difficult due to the rugged terrain, and rescuers had to cut through the ice using chainsaws.The glacier is about 185 miles from a volcano that erupted Friday on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland.

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