Senior police officer in Selfoss Oddur Árnason told ruv.is on Friday that emergency services were very surprised to find the man, whose car a witness saw run into Öxará river in Selfoss the previous evening, alive. His relatives had been told that it was unlikely that he had survived.
After searching the river, which is deep and has a strong current in the location where the car ran into it, through the night, search and rescue volunteers found the man north of the local airport at 10:20 on Friday morning.
“He was confused so we have to wait with asking him what happened. The little that he told us indicated that he had been inside a container and a caterpillar,” Oddur told visir.is. He added it was unclear for how long the man had been in the river and where he had reached land.
The man, who was cold and in a poor condition, was taken to the hospital in Selfoss and from there to Landspítali National University Hospital in Reykjavík. His condition is not life-threatening.
An article, published on visir.is on Saturday, questions whether the man was in the river at all. According to the newspaper’s sources, the man has a police record and served a sentence for embezzlement, among other violations.
Today, superintendent in Selfoss Þorgrímur Óli Sigurðsson stressed to visir.is that the case is being investigated as an accident and that no criminal intent is suspected.
More than 80 people participated in the search, including divers and the crew of a Coast Guard helicopter. The car has not been found and no further search will be made to locate it.
