One Dead, One Missing As Rescue Search Continues

The search for two women who disappeared last Saturday has led to finding the body of one of them, but the other is still at large.

Vísir reports that the two women were reported missing on Saturday, after they went for a walk from their summerhouse in Fljótshlíð but did not return. This prompted an intensive search, with rescue workers covering territory on foot, with the aid of search dogs, and by helicopter.

Sadly, the body of one of the women was found by divers Tuesday evening in Bleiksárgljúfur gully, about 25 kilometres from their summerhouse, after her clothes were found nearby. Officials believe the cause of death was drowning.

“This doesn’t appear to us to be anything other than an accident,” said Sveinn Kristján Rúnarsson, the chief of police of nearby Hvolsvöllur.

The search still continues for the other woman. She is Icelandic, and reported to be in her thirties. The search area has been expanded, and some 170 rescue workers are combing the area in search of her.

Searching in the bottom of the gully itself is difficult, rescue workers say, as there are many dark and hidden small crevices in the water-filled lava, but the land and air search still continues.