Two people remain missing and one person was hospitalized after the ice cave collapsed on Sunday.
At least one person has died after an ice cave partially collapsed while a group of tourists were visiting the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in southern Iceland.
Two people were seriously injured in Sunday’s incident, one of whom died of his injuries at the scene and the other was airlifted to a hospital in the capital Reykjavik.
“Four people were trapped under the ice, two people have already been rescued and are seriously injured,” Sudurland police said.
“The search for the two people trapped in the ice cave is still ongoing,” the statement added.
Local news site Visir reported that all available rescue teams were searching, in addition to three helicopters from the Icelandic Coast Guard and the Danish Navy.
Due to the rugged nature of the terrain, Visir continued, it was not possible to bring large icebreaking machines to the site, forcing rescue teams to use hand-held saws and other tools to break up the ice.
The operation was suspended after dark due to dangerous conditions, but police said efforts would resume Monday morning.
Police said Sunday that the call about the collapse came in at 3 p.m., when four people from a group of 25 tourists and their guide were struck by ice while exploring the cave.
The ice cave near the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon, where the incident occurred, is a popular tourist destination.
The collapse is also probably not linked to a volcanic eruption that occurred Friday in southeastern Iceland, about 300 km from the ice cave.
