Fourteen People Rescued From Glacier

Last week, a group of fourteen people was rescued from the Öræfajökull volcanic glacier, RÚV reports.

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Fourteen hikers, including twelve tourists from Poland and two Icelandic guides, started a descent to Hvannadalshnjúkur early in the morning on Thursday. Around 16:00 on Thursday, their GPS equipment broke down. Due to poor visibility, the group decided to call for the help of the rescue team. In total, a group of 140 ICE-SAR volunteers from all over Iceland came to help, which turned out to be one of the most extensive rescue operations in history.

The rescue team found the lost group around 23:00. The group has put up two tents to keep warm. Poor visibility and weather conditions made the rescue operation more difficult—-in total, it took almost 24 hours to bring every group member down safely.

Right now, the hikers are doing well. “I don’t think they could have stayed there much longer and everyone’s glad that it went so well. It could have been much worse,” said Sigfinnur Mar Þrúðmarsson, one of the rescue team members.