Tourist dies when ice collapses in Icelandic glacier

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

Due to the tough conditions, rescuers have postponed the search for the missing in the Breidamerkurjökull glacier until the morning.

On Sunday, the ice collapsed when a group of 25 hikers and a guide were exploring an ice cave. Emergency personnel labored by hand to try to locate the missing. On Sunday, just before 15:00, first responders received a call reporting the collapse.

"The conditions are very difficult on the ground," stated local police commander Sveinn Kristján Rúnarsson. "It is in the glacier. It's difficult to acquire equipment there. It is awful. Everything is done by hand.

According to local news outlets, 200 individuals were involved in the rescue operation on Sunday. On Icelandic TV, Chief Superintendent Rúnarsson stated that police were unable to contact the two missing people.

He stated that the weather was "fair" despite the "difficult" conditions. He confirmed that all of those involved were foreign visitors and stated that there was no reason why the journey to the cave should not have taken place.

"Ice cave tours happen almost the whole year," according to him. "These tours are led by experienced and powerful mountain guides. It is always possible to be unlucky.

I trust these folks to analyze the situation and determine if it is safe to travel, and they have done good work over time. This is a living land, thus everything is possible."

The police chief stated that individuals were standing in a ravine between cave openings when an ice wall collapsed. Breidamerkurjökull is a glacial tongue that runs from the Vatnajökull glacier to the Jökulsárlón lagoon.

The glacial tongue is well-known for its ice caves, which are visited by organized trips.