Authorities investigate emergency call hoax involving tourists trapped in cave at Kerlingafjöll, South Iceland

Authorities in South Iceland are investigating a possible hoax involving an emergency call made by two tourists who were believed to be trapped in a cave at Kerlingafjöll. Police suspect that the distress signal was fabricated, which could lead to fines or imprisonment for up to three months under Icelandic criminal law.

Sveinn Kristján Rúnarsson, chief of police in the region, stated that the false alarm could hinder crucial rescue operations. The search for the tourists was suspended after nearly 200 rescuers had been deployed and working for almost a day in a hazardous area. Such a response is significant, and initiating it under false pretenses is extremely serious.

Icelandic law stipulates that calling for emergency help without valid reason, or misusing emergency signals, is punishable by law. “There are certain indicators in the notification that we are examining. We’ve found no additional leads following the extensive search,” he noted.

The tourists had sent their emergency plea via an online chat system. Authorities are currently tracing the origin of the call, including investigating potential IP addresses linked to it. “There’s always a digital trail left; we are trying to piece together the clues that were left behind,” he added.

Sveinn Kristján recalled a similar incident from approximately twenty years ago when an emergency search was initiated for tourists on high ground, noting that such occurrences are rare. He emphasized that the police usually manage to identify such hoaxes early in the process.