Man Compiles Map Of Tourist Deaths In Iceland

Kristján Hlynur Ingólfsson has spent the last two years compiling tourist deaths into a map showing dangerous areas in Iceland, with the South and the Southwest presenting the greatest risk.

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Kristján Hlynur, who goes by Hlynur, told Vísir that he started to compile the deaths of tourists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then he began to add the deaths that happened before 2020. He initially did not do anything with the data he collected.

But after the discussion surrounding the last drowning in Reynisfjara, he says he decided to make a map out of it. It is difficult to interpret data in a spreadsheet, but you can immediately see the distribution when it is on a map.

He says he does not have all the deaths of tourists in Iceland in recent years, but contains all the deaths he found in the media.

Hlynur says he takes three risk areas in the country out of his research and registrations of deaths: Þingvallavatn, the area between Reynisfjara and the plane wreck on Sólheimasandur, and the road from Vík to the beach.

Around Reynisfjara, the main cause of death is overheating or drowning; drowning is the main cause of death at Þingvallavatn, but a considerable number have been added due to the plane crash that happened in February; and on the road from Vík most people died in car accidents.

The south is therefore most dangerous according to his map, which he says is not strange because most tourists are found in that region.