Helicopter called out due to an avalanche
The helicopter was called out due to an avalanche in Böggvisstaðafjall mountain, west of Dalvík. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
A helicopter from the Icelandic Coast Guard was called out at 13.15 at the request of the police due to an avalanche in Böggvisistaðafjall mountain west of Dalvík.
Ásgeir Erlendsson, information officer of the Icelandic Coast Guard, tells mbl.is that rescue teams from the accident prevention society Landsbjörg are accompanying the helicopter and it has already departed.
Erlendsson says one patrol ship is based in the Westfjords because of the imminent threat of avalanches there. He doesn’t expect it to be moved out of the area because of the events in the north, but the response now is limited to the helicopter.
Updated at 14.02
It appears that no one was harmed by the avalanche that fell in Dýjadalur valley in Böggvisstaðafjall mountain.
The avalanche started under a group of snowmobiles. According to Jón Þór Víglundsson, the information officer of Landsbjörg, the person who reported the avalanche was some distance from it and it appeared that someone had been caught under the flood. A closer look revealed that this does not appear to be the case.
Skiers were in similar areas but nobody seems to have been harmed, according to Víglundsson.
“It looks like no one has been caught by the avalanche but it has yet to be confirmed definitively,” Víglundsson stated.
Rescue workers are currently on alert for the time being.
