Scott Stevens, from Austin, Texas, and his daughter Wylde, 10, narrowly escaped a deadly cave collapse in Iceland’s Breiðamerkurjökull ice cave on Sunday. Stevens, who was photographing his daughter, opted not to switch camera lenses to avoid delaying the group. They exited the cave just moments before it collapsed, hearing a loud “boom” shortly after leaving.
“I was aware of the group behind us and didn’t want to hold them up,” Stevens recounted. “If we had stayed a minute longer, it would have been us. We were in the exact spot where it happened.”
The collapse tragically resulted in the death of an American man and injured an American woman among a group of 23 tourists from various countries. The incident occurred in the southeast of Iceland, according to local reports.
Stevens expressed his shock and relief, stating, “It felt like it could have very easily been us. I’m thinking of the man who died; he was just on vacation, expecting to go home.”
Stevens and his group had left the cave before the collapse, while the deceased and injured were part of a second group with a different guide. Upon hearing the collapse, Stevens and his guide ran back to the scene, where they found a woman in distress and provided assistance along with a doctor who was on the tour.
The guides were visibly shaken by the incident. “One was in tears, covered in blood from the deceased, and both were deeply traumatized,” Stevens said.
The American victims were confirmed to be a couple, and the U.S. State Department has offered consular assistance. Iceland, with its extensive glaciers and ice caves, is a popular destination for tourists, but the cave collapse has highlighted the inherent risks of exploring such natural wonders.