Obtaining information on accident rates

The representatives of Ice Pic Journeys issued a statement yesterday regarding a fatal accident that occurred during a trip organized by the company on Breiðamerkurjökull glacier on Sunday. This is the first time that the representatives of the company have spoken out after the accident, but Morgunblaðið and mbl.is have repeatedly tried to get hold of them in the last few days.

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Warned of the ice wall just a few minutes before the accident

In the statement, they say they regret the accident and that their thoughts are now with the families of the deceased and all those who were involved in the accident. It is noted in the statement that the company will now provide trauma support to its employees to cope with the shock. In addition, the company will work closely with the police to investigate the case. The company does not intend to comment further until the investigation is completed.

It has been reported that a working group has been appointed by the government which will review safety issues in glacier travel and, among other things, investigate what went wrong at Breiðamerkurjökull glacier.

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Fatal accident in an ice cave in Breiðamerkurjökull glacier

In an interview with Morgunblaðið, Tourism Director Arnar Már Ólafsson says that the working group has met and has already sent out requests for information and data to certain parties.

"So the work has started," he says.

Asked if the Icelandic Tourist Board has statistical information on the frequency of accidents among tourists in Iceland that are not related to traffic, he says that this is not the case, but that the agency is working on obtaining that information.

"We have approached the Coast Guard, Landsbjörg Rescue team, the National Health Service, and health institutions for data," he mentions, but notes that the process is complicated.

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Is there anything known about when this information would be available?

"It just depends on how fast these institutions work. We reiterate these requests regularly. This is important data and very useful to have in one place."