From Iceland — More Holuhraun Invaders Charged

More Holuhraun Invaders Charged

Published May 8, 2016

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Axel Sigurðarson

Three more people now face charges for defying police boundaries blocking public access to the Holuhraun eruption in 2014.

Vísir reports that the three stand accused of having deliberately bypassed police boundaries leading in to the eruption area in September 2014, one month after the then-active eruption was closed off to everyone but scientists and rescue workers.

This is not the first time someone has had to face charges for this offense. As reported last January, the helicopter pilot who flew a Kazakhstani billionaire to the site of the then-erupting Holuhraun volcano has also been charged.

The pilot in question, while working for Reykjavík Helicopters, flew Goga Ashkenazi to the site on at least three occasions in September and October 2014.

At the time, the general public was forbidden from the area surrounding Holuhraun. Ashkenazi and entourage not only entered the area, but also landed there, and took an infamous video of themselves dancing only metres away from the active eruption. The video was in turn uploaded to her Instagram account (which has since been taken down).

For those still unclear, driving around signs and police officers warning drivers that entering an area is dangerous or forbidden could carry legal consequences.

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