Missing Man At Geldingadalur Has Been Found Safe And Sound

The owner of a car left at Geldingadalur has been found after he was thought to be missing. The man simply stayed the night in Grindavík, not realising that rescue teams were out looking for him, Vísir reports.

Upon waking up, the man in question saw the pictures of his car and contacted the police to inform them that he is safe and is not in any danger.

Concerns were raised during the night about a singular car with a foreign license plate that had not moved after all the other cars had left. The police worried that someone may have gotten injured or lost near the volcano.

A helicopter from the coast guard took off at 8:25 this morning and went out surveying the area from Svartsengi to Geldingadalur to look for the man but has now left.

It ain’t all that safe right now

The eruption site was closed this morning due to gas pollution and people are heavily advised from entering the area until it is safe to do so.

Many experts are warning people of going into the area. It has been pointed out that the hiking trails are very difficult to navigate, with eroded lava making some of the trails indistinguishable.

The weather is particularly bad today, making conditions at the site even worse for visitors; another reason why officials are warning people to stay away.

The area is very windy at the moment with some precipitation but a yellow weather warning has been put in effect, with a south-westerly storm expected. The winds of this storm are predicted to be upwards of 30m/s.

Red Cross to the rescue

A large number of people found themselves in dangerous situations last night so in response to this, the Red Cross have set up a first aid rescue station at Hópsskóli in Grindavík for those rescued from the eruptions by the rescue squads.

In a statement from the Red Cross, they said “People needed help with hypothermia first and foremost. The emergency centre was opened just before one o’clock last night at the request of the action committee. Almost 40 people in different conditions received help at the station. No one was in mortal danger. One was transported by ambulance from the station due to injury. Everyone left just before 6 in the morning.”

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.