From Iceland — Rockfall in Reynisfjara Injures Three

Rockfall in Reynisfjara Injures Three

Published August 20, 2019

Photo by
Art Bicnick

Large rocks have collapsed onto the easternmost shore of the Reynis­fjara beach in Vík.  The location is a popular tourist spot to see Reynisdrangar, several rocky cliffs in the sea that reaching up to 66 meters high that are rumored to be trolls and their ship that have turned to stone.  The landslide however, occurred on land originating from the Reynisfjall mountain slopes.

Lögregla hefur nú lokað fyrir umferð fólks í Reynisfjöru að hluta vegna hruns úr berginu austarlega, yfir fjörunni. Samkvæmt upplýsingum lögreglu slösuðust tveir þegar þeir fengu gjót á sig, annarsvegar karlmaður um tvítugt og hinsvegar barn. Meiðsl þeirra munu þó ekki vera alvarleg. Verið er að skoða aðstæður á vettvangi og meta hvort og til hvaða aðgerða verður gripið umfram það sem búið er að loka.

Posted by Lögreglan á Suðurlandi on Monday, August 19, 2019

Three have been said to be injured as a result, but the injuries have been said to not be considered serious.  Among these three were reportedly a child that injured their foot, and a 20 year old male tourist that sustained a head injury.  It seems the injuries were not from the rocks falling onto anyone, but from later altercations where people were bumping into the fallen rocks.

Sigurður Sigurbjörnsson, deputy chief of police in Vík, announced that the affected area of the beach has been closed off.  Investigations will be carried out in order to assess whether or not further safety measures will be necessary, and the area will be taped off until further notice.  Sigurður told Vísir that some people have been disregarding the tape, but they have been doing everything they can to clear the area.

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