A foreign traveler was airlifted by an Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter to the National University Hospital Landspitalinn on Sunday afternoon. The accident took place near Goðafoss waterfall in North Iceland. Goðafoss is one of several spectacular waterfalls in Skjálfandafljót river, which carries glacial meltwater from the Central Highlands, the waterfall is located right on the Ring Road, making it a popular tourist destination.
Updated: Israeli national injured in Sunday's accident at Goðafoss waterfall
UPDATE: Israeli man who was injured in accident at Goðafoss waterfall likely to make full recovery
Suffered serious injuries
According to information from the Police in NE Iceland the traveler is a man in his fifties who is traveling in Iceland with his family. He had fallen down steep cliffs on the western bank of Skjálfandafljót river downstream from Goðafoss waterfall in North Iceland. According to the Police the man sustained serious injuries in the fall, including significant injuries to his head.
The accident took place around two on Sunday afternoon. Early reports indicated the man had fallen into the waterfall, but according to the National Broadcasting Service RÚV, the man fell down Hansens-gat, a deep crevice in the cliffs near Goðafoss. The crevice leads down to the rocky shore of the raging river, but the man did not fall all the way down, but stopped in the steep rocky side of the hole. He fell a total of 8 meters (26 ft).
It is not clear why the man fell, and the Police is currently investigating the incidence.
Took 75 minutes for rescuers to reach
Women who were nearby noticed the man's bag lying next to the hole and then saw him lying at its bottom. They contacted the Police at 14:22, which immediately called out specialized ICE-SAR rescue units. The first responders had reached the man at 15:20.
When the rescuers reached the man he is believed to have been lying in the rocks for about 75 minutes. He was both cold and wet, and had not been fully conscious the whole time.
It is not clear why the man fell, but according to the Police he had sustained injuries to his head and back. The man was taken by ambulance to Akureyri, where he was met by a Coast Guard helicopter which airlifted the man to Reykjavík.
Hansens-gat crevice
Hansens-gat crevice is named after a Danish pharmacist who operated a pharmacy in Akureyri in the at the turn of the century 1900. One one visit to Goðafoss Hansen fell down the crevice, which was then named Hansens-gat, meaning Hansen's Hole. According to some accounts Hansen survived the fall and lived to old age in Akureyri.
In earlier times the crevice was used by sheepherders as a passage down to the shore of the river, as its slope can be climbed, allowing access to the otherwise inaccessible riverbank. Local farmers used caves by the river bank to keep sheep over winter. The sheep were then herded down the crevice in the fall, and back up in spring. In modern times the caves are only accessible to mountaineers.
A foreign traveler was airlifted by an Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter to the National University Hospital Landspitalinn on Sunday afternoon. The accident took place near Goðafoss waterfall in North Iceland. Goðafoss is one of several spectacular waterfalls in Skjálfandafljót river, which carries glacial meltwater from the Central Highlands, the waterfall is located right on the Ring Road, making it a popular tourist destination.
Updated: Israeli national injured in Sunday's accident at Goðafoss waterfall
UPDATE: Israeli man who was injured in accident at Goðafoss waterfall likely to make full recovery
Suffered serious injuries
According to information from the Police in NE Iceland the traveler is a man in his fifties who is traveling in Iceland with his family. He had fallen down steep cliffs on the western bank of Skjálfandafljót river downstream from Goðafoss waterfall in North Iceland. According to the Police the man sustained serious injuries in the fall, including significant injuries to his head.
The accident took place around two on Sunday afternoon. Early reports indicated the man had fallen into the waterfall, but according to the National Broadcasting Service RÚV, the man fell down Hansens-gat, a deep crevice in the cliffs near Goðafoss. The crevice leads down to the rocky shore of the raging river, but the man did not fall all the way down, but stopped in the steep rocky side of the hole. He fell a total of 8 meters (26 ft).
It is not clear why the man fell, and the Police is currently investigating the incidence.
Took 75 minutes for rescuers to reach
Women who were nearby noticed the man's bag lying next to the hole and then saw him lying at its bottom. They contacted the Police at 14:22, which immediately called out specialized ICE-SAR rescue units. The first responders had reached the man at 15:20.
When the rescuers reached the man he is believed to have been lying in the rocks for about 75 minutes. He was both cold and wet, and had not been fully conscious the whole time.
It is not clear why the man fell, but according to the Police he had sustained injuries to his head and back. The man was taken by ambulance to Akureyri, where he was met by a Coast Guard helicopter which airlifted the man to Reykjavík.
Hansens-gat crevice
Hansens-gat crevice is named after a Danish pharmacist who operated a pharmacy in Akureyri in the at the turn of the century 1900. One one visit to Goðafoss Hansen fell down the crevice, which was then named Hansens-gat, meaning Hansen's Hole. According to some accounts Hansen survived the fall and lived to old age in Akureyri.
In earlier times the crevice was used by sheepherders as a passage down to the shore of the river, as its slope can be climbed, allowing access to the otherwise inaccessible riverbank. Local farmers used caves by the river bank to keep sheep over winter. The sheep were then herded down the crevice in the fall, and back up in spring. In modern times the caves are only accessible to mountaineers.
