Two tourists are trapped and two others injured after an ice cave collapsed in Iceland. A rescue operation is underway on the Breidamerkurjokull glacier, complicated by difficult conditions.
Two tourists were trapped after a collapse on Sunday afternoon. Iceland A rescue operation is underway in an ice cave on the Breidamerkurjokull glacier, the Icelandic police reported.
According to Icelandic public broadcaster RUV, two people were seriously injured. A total of 25 people were visiting the cave.
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Iceland. Glacier Rescue
Rescue services described the conditions on the glacier as difficult. The operation involved 200 police officers, cavers, and civil servants. Two helicopters are also on site, it was reported in the evening.
One of the tourists who had previously visited the cave told RUV that after reaching the surface he heard a loud crack, but he only learned about the accident from the media after returning to the hotel. According to the man, the cave was 3-5 meters deep.
The Breidamerkurjokull glacier is located in Vatnajökull National Park, about 380 kilometers from the capital, Reykjavik. Since 1989, the Vatnajökull ice sheet, one of the largest in Europe, has lost 150-200 cubic kilometers of ice, and its area has decreased by more than 400 square kilometers.
Main image source: Reuters