Around 11 a.m. 27 December local time, a coach carrying 44 Chinese citizens overturned near Vík on the south coast of Iceland, around 250 km away from the Capital City Reykjavik. One Chinese citizen has been confirmed dead and many others injured.

The Chinese Embassy attaches great importance to this and immediately activated emergency response mechanism. The official in charge Mr. Liu Mingming made urgent deployment regarding consular protection, and paid a visit to the Center for Rescue for more detailed information of the situation. The Icelandic side was requested to do their utmost to rescue the injured and investigate the cause of the accident at their earliest convenience.

After being informed that 11 Chinese citizens have been transferred by helicopters to the National Hospital for treatment in Reykjavik, Mr. Liu Mingming went to the hospital along with consular officers and asked the doctors to try their best to rescue the injured. They studied the injury and treatment conditions of the injured Chinese citizens and visited them one by one to express their sympathy and confirm their identities. On 28 and 29 December, they visited the heavily injured in the hospital again and urged the hospital to offer the best possible treatment.

The Embassy has been in contact with the relatives of the dead and injured and offered necessary assistance to them. All relevant departments and parties both in China and Iceland have been requested to offer necessary convenience and assistance. Many of the relatives have soon completed required procedures and are on their way to Iceland with the assistance from them. The Embassy has also urged the travel agency concerned to take up due responsibilities and properly handle follow-up matters.

According to the hospital, 2 of the heavily injured are still kept in ICU, while 5 others are being treated on general wards and are in stable condition. The others have been discharged from the hospital and some of the slightly injured are departing Iceland under the arrangement of the travel agency.

The Embassy will follow up the situation closely and offer necessary assistance to Chinese citizens whenever needed.

Hereby the Embassy expresses its sincere gratitude to Icelandic Government, Police, Center for Rescue, hospital and all other relevant departments for the enormous efforts they have made in rescuing and treating Chinese citizens. Our great appreciation also goes to all Icelandic people who care about injured Chinese citizens and volunteer to contribute. We have felt the friendly feelings of Icelandic people towards China and Chinese people.

The Embassy also noticed that there are all kinds of reports in Iceland media including some speculations of the cause of the accident. The Icelandic Police has confirmed to the Embassy that they will not release any information about any part of the investigation before it is finished and the police is not responsible for what the media writes or any speculation on their side. The Embassy requests the media to report the incident objectively, responsibly and fairly.