Police in Iceland call off search at ice collapse that killed tourist, saying no one is missing

Police in Iceland have called off a search for two tourists initially believed missing after the collapse of an ice cave that killed one person and seriously injured another, saying they now believe no one is missing.

Icelandic authorities on Monday said they called off the search after examining the tour operator’s records and determining that only 23 people were on the trip, not 25 as was first believed.

One person died and one person was seriously injured on Sunday when the cave collapsed shortly before 3pm (1am on Monday AEST). Both victims were American citizens, police said.

“A moment ago, the police field manager located at the scene announced that all the ice that was thought to have fallen on the people had been moved,” police said.

“It has come to light that no one (was) hidden under the ice.”

Rescuers had worked by hand to cut through the remnants of the collapsed ice cave as they searched for those they had believed to be missing.

The search, which was suspended overnight when conditions made it too dangerous, had resumed about 7am on Monday (5pm AEST), Icelandic broadcaster RUV reported.

Video showed rescuers working inside two large craters surrounded by the sand-blackened ice of the Breidamerkurjokull glacier.

But by the end of the day, they were satisfied that a mistake had been made in record keeping and that no one else was missing.

Police said there had been “misleading information” about the number of people on the trip.

Ice caves are a popular destination for visitors to Iceland, with tour operators offering customers the chance to “explore the insides of glaciers” and see the blue colour and “stunning patterns” in the ice.

Glaciers cover about 11 per cent of the territory of Iceland, an island nation in the north Atlantic that sits on the southern edge of the Arctic Circle.

The largest is Vatnajokull, which covers 7900 square kilometres. Breidamerkurjokull is a tongue of Vatnajokull that ends at the Jokulsarlon Lagoon, where icebergs constantly break off from the glacier.

Local news site Visir said the group that was at the cave during the collapse was on an organised tour accompanied by a guide. Most people were outside the cave when it collapsed, Visir reported.

Moving rescue equipment and personnel up to the glacier was difficult due to the rugged terrain, and rescuers had to cut through the ice using chain saws.