Hiker has to be rescued by helicopter after getting ‘lost’ near erupting Icelandic volcano and making SOS signals to passing aircraft

A hiker had to be rescued by helicopter last night after becoming lost near an erupting volcano in Iceland.

The plane was called to the eruption site on the Reykjanes Peninsula to search for the hiker, who managed to signal the passing helicopter using SOS signals, the Icelandic Coast Guard said.

Ásgeir Erlendsson, a coast guard spokesman, said it was initially reported that two people had become lost earlier in the evening when the person became separated from their equipment.

“The helicopter found him and brought him back to town,” Erlendsson said. 'He had gotten very cold and had left his equipment and flashlight in another place. That's why they were thought to be two men.'

People have been urged to stay away from the volcano, which erupted on Monday evening. Tremor seekers flocked to the site after the eruption, bringing people as close as possible to the expanding lava field.

However, experts have warned that the ongoing eruption could open new fissures that could tear apart the nearby town of Grindavik, as the area remains on high alert amid uncertainty about what the coming days will bring.

The Icelandic meeting office announced yesterday that there is an increased risk of unannounced eruptions, even ordering emergency workers to evacuate the city, which is about 40 kilometers from Reykjavík, Iceland's capital.

The eruption signals an increased risk of volcanic fissures opening without warning in the fishing village – home to about 4,000 people and which was evacuated after earthquakes began shaking it weeks ago.

Locals have shared videos showing their homes being torn apart, with homes being sealed and some people being told they cannot return after the force of the tremors ripped the houses off their foundations.

Iceland's tourism industry, powered by attractions like the Blue Lagoon, which is just a stone's throw from the eruption, has also taken a huge hit, with some flights delayed and nervous holidaymakers canceling reservations and postponing trips for the coming months.

“The future is still uncertain,” said Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, head of Iceland's tourism board MBL.is. “We'll have to see how this eruption plays out. If the upheavals continue for a long time, the impact on the tourism sector could be significant until next year.'

Meanwhile, people around the world have been marveling at the stunning new images emerging from the country, with drone footage showing the steaming streams of lava flowing over snow-capped mountains and exposing the vastness of the four-kilometre-long gorge.

Tens of thousands of tremors have been recorded around Grindavik since a 'seismic swarm' first rocked the region in late October, with the Fagradalsfjall volcano threatening to erupt for weeks before Monday's explosion at Sundhnúkagíga, which unleashed a much larger flow than ever before. recent years.

With a huge magma tunnel stretching beneath Grindavik, fissures can still open without warning, geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson told Icelandic news channel DV.

'A magma tunnel was also formed (underground) from which the eruption emanated, and this extends considerably further south and north than the rifts themselves, and we can fully expect them to erupt without warning, as actually happened at Fagradalsfjall, ' Ófeigsson warned.

Experts will meet on Wednesday morning to assess the ongoing situation, following an update last night that the eruption has weakened.

The volcano has spewed out enough lava to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 20 seconds, an expert said Tuesday.

David Pyle, professor of earth sciences at the University of Oxford, told LiveScience that earthquakes around the eruption area have now subsided, indicating that the rift has stabilized.

“The eruption rate is probably in the region of a few hundred cubic meters of lava per second – enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in about 20 seconds,” Pyle told me. LiveScience.

'The length of the fissure may be an indication of how much magma has been able to accumulate in the crust in recent weeks.'

The Icelandic Met Office said in a statement last night: 'The lava flow is estimated at around a quarter of what it was at the start of the eruption on December 18, and a third of the original fissure is active.'

Police have said the eruption does not pose a threat to life and no injuries have been reported so far, despite thrill seekers flocking to the area.

While locals and tourists alike have to witness the incredible nighttime scenes first-hand, authorities have warned that the darkness makes the site even more dangerous.

The biggest risk to people living near the volcano, authorities say, is volcanic fumes, which can cause breathing problems or asphyxiation.

Fears that the toxic gas from the eruption would hit the Reykjanes Peninsula overnight fortunately did not materialize.

However, pollution levels have risen in parts of the peninsula, raising concerns among experts.

People are being asked to stay away from the area as smoke and ash are still coming from the eruption.

Iceland's Met Office estimates that hundreds of cubic meters of lava per second escaped the volcano in the first two hours after the eruption began on Monday, although this has slowed significantly since then.

The lava has a temperature of about 1200 degrees Celsius (2200 degrees Fahrenheit).

The volcano last erupted in March 2021, but had been inactive for 6,000 years before that.