No Trace Of Man Who Fell Into Crevasse in Grindavík

Search and rescue crews operating in Grindavík have found no trace of the man who fell into a crevasse in the town Wednesday morning. The search was ongoing throughout the night, RÚV reports.

A drone was deployed into the fissure where the man is believed to have fallen, based on where his tools were found. There was no sign of the man, but the drone identified several metres of water in the crack.

Hjálmar Hallgrímsson, the police officer overseeing the search, told the national broadcaster the situation is “extremely difficult.”

“We are in a very narrow area,” he said. “We have very skilled people to work in these conditions, but the downside is that there are only two of us. This is taking much longer than we thought. There is no telling how long this will take. The situation is not good about it. We are busy working. It is changed as quickly as needed. We have an underwater drone as well and are working full time on this as of today.”

Though there were no witnesses, the man is believed to have fallen into a crevasse formed during the November 2023 earthquakes that preceded the evacuation of Grindavík, a town of 3,700 residents on the southern coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula. He is a member of a crew filing in cracks and making other repairs in the town.

Grindavík Mayor Fannar Jónsson announced that all construction work has been halted in town pending a meeting on the situation scheduled for Tuesday.