Two French women were severely injured in a bus accident in Reykjadalur valley in northeast Iceland yesterday evening.
The Landspítali hospital in Reykjavík. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
They were taken to the hospital in Akureyri and later sent by an ambulance flight to the Landspítali hospital in Reykjavík. One of the women is in intensive care, ruv.is reports.
The accident happened at a crossroads on the Ring Road, Iceland’s highway number 1, by the farm Einarsstadir, north of the village Laugar.
According to the police in Húsavík, it appears as if the bus’s breaks failed and that the driver tried to pull onto a side road, resulting in a rollover.
Sigurdur H. Snaebjörnsson, chairman of the search and rescue team Hjálparsveit skáta in Reykjadalur and a resident of the farm Breidumýri near the scene of the accident, was among the first to arrive.
He said the situation had not been good; the bus was lying on its side and all the passengers were outside. Fifteen foreign tourists were in the bus in addition to the driver and a guide.
Six passengers were taken by ambulance to the hospital in Akureyri, and the others who suffered minor injuries, were transported by another bus which was sent to the scene.
The coordination center of the civil protection department was activated and a Coast Guard helicopter and an ambulance airplane in Akureyri were on alert.
Ambulances and police forces from Húsavík and Akureyri, along with search and rescue teams from Reykjadalur, Mývatnssveit and Húsavík came to the scene of the accident.
