This past Sunday, August 25, a group of 23 tourists from around the world were on a guided tour of the Breiðamerkurjökull ice cave in southeastern Iceland, a part of Europe’s largest glacier of Vatnajökull, when a couple suddenly collapsed through the ice.Â
The couple, two Americans, stood inside a ravine between two cave mouths when the ice wall gave way beneath them. They were trapped under the broken ice for hours after first responders were contacted around 3 pm. The search continued on until midnight and resumed early Monday morning. Hundreds of first responders gathered at the ice cave tirelessly searching for survivors, clearing ice mostly by hand.
Sadly, one man died at the scene and one woman was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Reykjavik, the country’s capital a few hours away. The woman is now in stable condition with no life-threatening injuries. Many tourists who visit Iceland come just to see its beautiful glaciers and ice caves, much like this one, where the ice is almost crystal clear and shades of blue shine through. This was a tragic accident that unfortunately changed the lives of these tourists forever.
Incorrect tour registration information had claimed 25 tourists were on the tour, when in reality there were only 23, causing panic that more people were still stuck under the ice. Rescuers continued to search until all of the collapsed ice had been moved. Once it was determined that the man and women found were the only people originally missing from the tour group and that the registration was wrong, the search was called off.
Ice cave tours occur almost year round in Iceland, whose land is made of 11% ice. Since 1930, the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier has been steadily melting due to global warming. The glacier was also only 185 miles from a volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula that recently erupted, both factors possibly contributing to its newfound instability.Â