The Dutch couple who fell 40 meters with a landslide down Dyrhólaey promontory in south Iceland on Thursday described the accident to the media yesterday. They say the ground suddenly collapsed beneath their feet and they feared the worst.
From the site of the accident. Photo by Grétar Einarsson. Courtesy of ICE-SAR.
The couple, Jeroen De Graf and Irmgard Fraune, were enjoying the view from Lágey, a part of Dyrhólaey, when they heard loud rumbling as if a truck had driven past them, and then the edge collapsed, ruv.is reports.
De Graf said at first he didn’t realize what was happening but when the landslide pulled him down the cliff he feared it was the end.
He and his wife say they are grateful for the people who came to their assistance. De Graf suffered a leg fracture and Fraune walked for help with a fractured vertebra—she later found out that she could easily have been paralyzed.
“Since mother nature didn’t manage to tear us apart in this disaster, we’re not meant to part,” commented Fraune to Stöð 2.
They are now recovering at the Landspítali national hospital in Reykjavík.
Click here to watch the interview with the couple (their comments are in English) and here to read more about the accident.
ESA
