Two tourists not missing after all ending massive search in Iceland

Rescuers have been searching for two missing tourists on a tour in Iceland after an ice wall collapsed, killing a man. But there has been a surprising revelation.

A hazardous 24-hour search for two trapped tourists on an ice cave tour in Iceland has been called off as it is discovered no one is actually missing.

An ice wall had collapsed during a tour group’s visit to Breiðamerkurjökull glacier on Sunday afternoon, local time.

An American man was killed and an American woman was flown to hospital, while 21 others were uninjured and two more tourists were believed to buried under ice.

Breiðamerkurjökull is in Vatnajökull National Park, near Jökulsárlón, which is Iceland’s most famous glacier lagoon.

On Monday afternoon (early Tuesday AEST), local police said the difficult search, involving 200 people, was called off after it was finally confirmed there was only 23 people on the tour, and not 25 as they had been initially told.

The tour group were on a Breioamerkurjokull ice cave tour in Vatnajokull National Park, Iceland. Picture: Alamy

“It is clear that only 23 people were on this walk yesterday,” Sudurland police said, adding this was confirmed when the ice was moved and no one was found.

The police said “a huge amount” of ice was broken down and moved, “and it was pretty much all done by hand”.

They said the tour operator had “conflicting information” about the number of people on the trip, so rescuers continued the search to confirm there were not two people trapped.

According to Icelandic news outlet Vísir, when the tourists booked their trip, they were only required to name themselves and how many people were with them, which meant there was not a complete list of names of those on the tour.

The Breidamerkurjokull glacier is near Jokulsarlon, Iceland’s most famous glacier lagoon. Picture: Sven-Erik Arndt /Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Vísir also reported that while it was first thought an ice cave had collapsed, it was actually an ice wall that collapsed as people were standing in a ravine between the cave mouths, citing senior police officer Sveinn Kristján Rúnarsson.

The massive search was suspended at midnight on Sunday and resumed at 7am on Monday before it was called off later that afternoon.

The injured tourist who was flown to hospital in Reykjavík is now said to be in a stable condition. It is understood the man who died was her partner.

“The police would also like to thank the tourism providers in the vicinity of the accident site who helped search and rescue people with accommodation and food over the past 24 hours,” the Sudurland police statement said.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.