During the weekend, a hiker running on the lava field in front of the big lava-spitting crater was spotted on the mbl.is webcam. This is not the first incident of risky behavior at the volcano site, as last week another man was standing on a piece of glowing lava, according to Vísir. Recently, the daredevil has publicly announced his identity on social media.
The volcano patiently waiting for its first victim
Kristín Jónsdóttir, group leader of nature monitoring at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, condemns the behavior of careless people at the eruption site and states that she hopes that no one will die in Geldingadalur.
On Twitter, Kristín wrote, “This is careless behavior! On behalf of all those who have worked to keep the area open and safe, by giving advice and laying footpaths, I hope that no one will die in the eruption in Geldingadalur.”
Reckless American attempts to get closer to the crater
Yesterday, the reckless man, Vincent Van Reynolds, announced his identity in a Facebook group called “Volcanoes” and say it was him, running away from the flowing lava on the webcam. The American has posted multiple videos on Facebook and Instagram, showing him running away from the flowing lava in the midst of the solid lava field. Initially, he tried to get closer to the big crater in Geldingadalur, which is now surrounded by a huge layer of lava, but failed after the volcano started emitting huge flows of lava.
Speaking to Vísir, Vincent told reporters that he has a bachelors in geology, and that his act was actually not as dangerous as it looked. That said, he apologised if his behaviour bothered anyone, and intends to visit Iceland again soon.
Undoubtedly, stepping on the solidified lava fields is pretty foolish, as lava has a temperature of about 1,300 degrees Celsius. Hopefully, people will keep the risks in mind when hiking up to the volcano and do not continue risking their lives for a simple social media post like Vincent did.
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