Desperate search for two missing tourists resumes after ice cave collapse left one ‘foreign’ visitor dead during guided tour at Icelandic glacier

The desperate search for two missing tourists has resumed after the collapse of an ice cave left one reportedly foreign visitor dead during a guided tour at an Icelandic glacier.

A group of 25 ‘foreign tourists of various nationalities’ and their tour guide were exploring the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland’s southeast when the canyon wall collapsed around 3pm, local police said.

Four people were buried under the ice and while two of them were found, one tourist was pronounced dead at the scene. The second person who was rescued had been seriously injured and was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Two tourists remain trapped under the ice and rescuers have resumed their search around 7am local time today after it was called off late last night when it got too dark and the conditions were too difficult to work in. 

Sveinn Kristjan Runarsson, chief police officer, told local news website RUV last night that all rescue work was being carried out by hand with chain saws as authorities were struggling to bring special equipment to remove ice to the remote cave. 

Two tourists remain trapped under the ice and rescuers are due to resume their search today after it was called off late last night when it got too dark and the conditions were too difficult to work in

A map shows where the Breidamerkurjokull glacier sits in south-eastern Iceland, about 286 miles across the country from the capital Reykjavik

A group of 25 ‘foreign tourists of various nationalities’ and their tour guide were exploring the Breidamerkurjokull glacier (pictured in the background) in Iceland’s southeast when the canyon wall collapsed around 3pm, according to local media 

So far, no contact has been made with the two missing persons, whose rough position is known by rescuers, Runarsson added.

‘Four people got stuck under the ice, two people have already been rescued from the ice and are seriously injured,’ Sudurland police previously said in a statement.

‘The search is still on for the two people trapped in the ice cave,’ the statement continued. 

Rúnarsson later said that the tourists were not inside the cave but instead in a ravine between the cave mouths when the ice wall collapsed.

Around 100 people are reportedly working on the rescue operation, including all rescue services in Sudurland and the capital area.

Jon Por Viglundsson, spokesman for the local accident prevention association, said this morning that rescuers were working in groups of ten to fifteen at a time to crush the ice. 

‘A mobile control station, a special control station vehicle, was moved from Reykjavik last night and tents have been set up in the area for rescuers to have shelter,’ he told local outlet Visir. 

‘Likewise, a communications team was sent to the location to improve communications in the area, which are not good.’

File image of The Crystal Cave on the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in southeast Iceland

Icebergs in Jokulsarlon lagoon, beneath Breidamerkurjokull glacier

Three helicopters from the Coast Guard and Danish Navy had been called out at the site along with all rescue services. 

Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, communications manager for the Icelandic Civil Defence, also said the conditions on the glacier are ‘extremely difficult’ due to the rugged terrain. 

According to RUV, one man – who did not want to be named – said the cave was not that deep, about three to five metres.

Around ten minutes after his tour group had left the cave they heard a crash but did not think any more of it until they went back to their hotel. 

An emergency aid centre was opened in Hofgard in Örafi yesterday evening.

The glacier where the accident happened is near the glacial lagoon Jokulsarlon, one of the Iceland’s more popular tourist destinations.