Iceland police say 1 tourist dead, 2 missing in ice cave collapse
Reykjavik, Iceland — One person has died and two others were still missing a day after an ice cave collapsed in southeast Iceland while a tour group was visiting the area, police said Monday. A group of 25 people of "several nationalities" were on an organized tour of the glacier Breidamerkurjokull together with a guide, when the cave collapsed, police said in a statement.
The police said four people got stuck under the ice and two of them had been found.
On Sunday, Sudurland police said the two people recovered were seriously injured, but added in a later statement early Monday that one of them had been "pronounced dead at the scene."
The other person was transported to a hospital by helicopter and was in a "stable" condition.
Rescue services began a search operation for the two missing Sunday and were continuing the search on Monday.
"A large number of rescuers and responders have taken part in the operation," police said, adding that the conditions were "difficult."
Authorities decided to temporarily suspend the search on Sunday evening once it became too dark and it was no longer considered safe.
The glacier where the accident happened is near the glacial lagoon Jokulsarlon, one of Iceland's more popular tourist destinations.
Iceland is a geologically restive nation, home to multiple active volcanoes that cause regular disruption with eruptions of toxic gas, ash and lava.
On Friday, Icelandic authorities said a second fissure had formed on the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula after lava started spewing forth for the sixth time in the region since December. After weeks of warnings, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said a new eruption had started the previous evening following a series of earthquakes.
Video showed orange lava bursting out of a long fissure, which the IMO estimated to be 2.4 miles.