Tourist dies after ice collapse in Iceland’s Breidamerkurjökull glacier

A foreign tourist has died in south Iceland after ice collapsed during a visit their group was making to a glacier, local media report.

A second tourist was injured but they have been taken to hospital and their life is not in danger, while two others are still missing.

Rescuers have resumed the search for the missing in the Breidamerkurjökull glacier after suspending the operation overnight because of difficult conditions.

Ice collapsed as the group of 25 people were visiting an ice cave along with a guide on Sunday.

Emergency workers worked by hand to try to rescue those missing.

First responders received a call just before 15:00 on Sunday about the collapse.

“A large number of rescuers and responders have taken part in the operation,” police said on Monday, adding that the conditions were “difficult”.

Local news outlets reported that 200 people were working on the rescue operation at one point on Sunday. Dozens have returned on Monday morning, with more expected to arrive through the day.

Speaking on Icelandic TV, Chief Superintendent Rúnarsson said police had been unable to contact the two missing people.

While the conditions were “difficult”, the weather was “fair”, he said on Sunday night.

Confirming that all those involved were foreign tourists, he said there was nothing to suggest that the trip to the cave should not have taken place.

“Ice cave tours happen almost the whole year,” he said

“These are experienced and powerful mountain guides who run these trips. It’s always possible to be unlucky. I trust these people to assess the situation – when it’s safe or not safe to go, and good work has been done there over time. This is a living land, so anything can happen.”

The police chief was quoted as saying that people had been standing in a ravine between cave mouths when an ice wall collapsed.

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 tours.