Guide describes man swept away in Stuðlagil river

Tour guide Auðdís Tinna Hallgrímsdóttir saw a man being swept through the river at Stuðlagil canyon on Tuesday and immediately called Iceland’s emergency services, mbl.is reports.

Auðdís had arrived at the canyon with a group of four shortly after 1pm. She was standing on the upper banks on the Klaustursel side when she heard shouting.

At first, she thought someone was recording a video. Within seconds, however, she realised that the man was in serious danger.

“I saw that the person’s head and everything was submerged and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t coming up to breathe,” Auðdís told mbl.is. “The water is icy cold and it is extremely dangerous to have your head underwater for that long.”

She ran along the riverbank while speaking to the emergency dispatch centre and police. She said she was too high up to reach the bottom of the canyon but could see the man trying to move in the river.

“At first it looked as if he was trying to catch his breath, but it just didn’t happen. Suddenly he became completely lifeless and simply floated on,” she said.

The current carried him down the cold, fast-flowing glacial river. Auðdís followed along the bank until he disappeared from view.

“I saw that he had become completely lifeless. He just floated downstream and disappeared from my sight,” she said. “I asked people nearby whether anyone had pulled him out. They said he had simply sunk and that nothing had been seen since.”

Auðdís said she did not know how the man had ended up in the river. From the shouting and calls she heard, she believed people had started reacting as he fell into the water.

She said mobile phone coverage at Stuðlagil had improved after a fatal accident in autumn 2024. Rescue workers had requested better coverage, and a mast was subsequently installed.

“I got through immediately yesterday, with no problem,” she said.

Auðdís later criticised safety conditions at the canyon in a Facebook post. She said she takes tourists there every day and that little has been done to prevent people from coming to harm.

“These are high cliffs. This is a deep canyon and nothing has been built. There is no fence or anything to cordon it off,” she wrote.