The bus that sank to the bottom of Blautulón lake off Fjallabaksleid nyrðri og northern Fjallabaksleið (F208) had 11 tourists from the Czech Republic, not 22 as was originally reported. The remaining 11 had left the bus to take photos and were scattered in the area near Blautulón, Stöd 2 Newsroom reported last night. The driver rescued everyone from the bus less than a minute after the bus landed in the lake. The depth of the lake is 10 meters where the bus sank.

Map of South Iceland. Blautulón lake is near the volcanic canyon Eldgjá.

“If all the passengers had been onboard things would have been a lot worse,” Hermannsson told ruv.is.

"He performed an extraordinary deed when he rescued the passengers onboard. Only 51 seconds passed between the time the bus started to sink and until it was completely underwater. He managed to climb through a side-window and opened the sunroof to let the passengers out,” he told ruv.is reports.

Divers fom the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police managed to bring back all luggage from the bus. Local authorities are trying to resolve how to retrieve the bus from the river but it is uncertain who is to cover the costs, rúv.is reports.

Another accident was reported yesterday when a couple from Switzerland drove into the Skyndidalsá glacial river at the wrong place and the car was caught in the current; the current took the car 50 meters down the river, mbl.is reports.

The couple was traveling through the Lónsöraefi wilderness area in Southeast Iceland. They called the Swiss police from the car rooftop and they alerted the 112 emergency services. 

JB