Exhausted children needed assistance
Police want to make sure people realise that the trek to the eruption site is 20 km long and it is not a trek suited for everyone, let alone young children. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
Foreign tourists had to be helped last night at the eruption site because they didnðt have the energy to walk back the Meradalir route. At one o'clock last night, police had to assist a foreign family whose two small children were exhausted from fatigue. Police want to remind people that the area is dangerous and the journey is difficult.
Police reiterate that it is not recommended that children, pregnant women and people with heart or lung disease walk to the eruption site.
People very close to the crater
A report from the Suðurnes police reminds us that the march is about 20 kilometres long and can take up to 7 hours, so it’s not for everyone. Close to 2 AM last night, it is estimated that there were 50 people at the eruption site.
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Life-threatening gases
Police warn people to stay near the eruption site because of a gas polluted area and that dangers are increased when the wind recedes. Then life-threatening gases may build up in depressions that can prove fatal. New fissures may open suddenly, and incandescent lava may fall from the edge of the lava, causing rapid and sudden surges as new lava flows break forth, making it difficult to avoid moving away.
It is recommended that people use dust masks to avoid pollution from vegetation fires, but police also reiterate that people are going to the eruption site at their own risk, and need to be responsible.
The area is open to visitors from Suðurstrandavegur today, with an updated map of the danger zone issued by the Icelandic Met Office yesterday.
The mountain Keilir is part of the marked danger zone. Kort/Veðurstofa Íslands
