Travel

Developing: Traveller swept to sea in Reynisfjara beach found dead

By Staff

The scene at Reynisfjara Beach Earlier this week Photographs of foreign travellers in danger have sparked a debate about how to ensure safety at Reynisfjara beach. Photo/Mudshark.

A large rescue operation is underway in South Iceland after a traveller was swept to the sea by an incoming wave on Reynisfjara beach. According to the local news site visir.is the accident happened this morning, and that at 10:45 AM the Coast Guard sent a rescue helicopter to the scene. First responders, Search and Rescue Units and a rescue vessel were also dispatched.

According to visir.is the man was already dead when rescue units reached the scene. Sveinn Rúnar Kristjánsson, the head of Police in South Iceland, told the local news site visir.is that an inquiry into the cause of the accident had been launched.

An American woman drowned in 2007 when an incoming wave swept her to the sea. In recent days foreign travellers have repeatedly been in danger on the beach as they have been caught by the incoming waves after they ventured too close to the water’s edge.

Update: Man who drowned on Reynisfjara beach was a foreign traveller who was visiting Iceland with his wife