The weekend was a bad one for hikers who ventured to Fimmvörðuháls, the mountainous area between Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers in Iceland.
On Saturday afternoon, rescue workers in South Iceland were called out to assist a woman who had badly injured her ankle after falling on Heljarkambur ridge in Fimmvörðuháls. Since the woman was unable to walk and conditions for carrying her on a stretcher were difficult, the Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter was called to assist the rescuers. The woman was transported by helicopter to hospital in Reykjavík.
On their way to assist the woman, rescue workers ran into another female hiker in Fimmvörðuháls, who was suffering from hypothermia. They assisted her and accompanied her to Skógar, near the Ring Road, from where she was transported by ambulance for further care.
Shortly before noon yesterday, rescue workers in South Iceland were again called out, this time to assist two women who were lost and exhausted in Fimmvörðuháls. The weather in the area was bad, with rain and fog. Visibility was close to zero, making the women lose sight of sticks marking the trail. By using the RescueMe mobile alert system, they were able to provide rescue workers with an exact location.
The teams were able to reach the women on four wheelers. They provided the women with dry clothing and food and transported them to the nearest village.
Similar to what had happened the previous day, on their way to the women, rescue workers ran into two other female hikers, who also had gotten lost in the fog, and helped them, too, to the nearest village.
But not only women landed in trouble over the weekend. Rescue workers in West Iceland were called out yesterday afternoon to assist a man who had injured his leg by Glymur waterfall in Hvalfjörður. The man was transported to hospital in Akranes.
