50 rescue workers were called out to Breiðdalsvík at around 20:00 last night to search for a man who turned out not to be missing, RÚV reported. The police confirmed that the search was based on a misunderstanding: “In modern society, there are demands that people always have their phone with them and then worries arise if people are disconnected,” he said.
About an hour after the rescue squads were called out it became apparent that the man was neither missing, nor did he require rescuing. The rescue team had apparently been called out so quickly because not all the facts were known at the time the decision had been made.
Davíð Már Bjarnason, Landsbjörg’s information officer, explained that rescue teams are often called in as soon as something happens. “So in the first stage of action, the situation is assessed and then information can emerge that reduces the action,” he said, concluding that “this was not a false warning”.
The case is reminiscent of a similar story, which occurred in 2012. At that time, a woman in Iceland went missing without realising that she was missing, and even went so far as to participate in her own search.
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