Icelandic authorities are warning tourists to “think four times” before they attempt to make a “challenging” trek to the site of a volcanic eruption after its coast guard rescued an exhausted hiker by helicopter on Tuesday, The Guardian reported.
Just hours after Monday night’s eruption in Grinkdavík, tourists flocked to the southwestern town to catch a glimpse at smoke billowing and lava pouring from the volcano, which colored the night sky red and orange.
But getting close to the volcano isn’t safe, and the Icelandic coast guard said it was forced to rescue an unnamed hiker after they became “exhausted, cold, and shocked halfway to the eruption,” according to The Guardian.
A helicopter flies near a volcano spewing lava and smoke as it erupts in Iceland.
Icelandic Coast Guard
Authorities said the approximately 12 mile route to the site is “extremely challenging,” according to The Guardian. The English-language website Iceland Monitor reported that the hiker was spotted giving an SOS signal to a passing plane using a flashlight. The Iceland Review reported that the SOS signal was spotted by a private plane around 8:30 p.m., more than six hours after sunset.
“The signal involves a sequence of light flashes: three short, three long, and three short bursts, with brief pauses in between,” Jón Þór, a coast guard spokesperson, told the Review. “This sequence is recognized internationally as an SOS signal.”
Asgeir Erlendsson, a coast guard officer, told the Monitor that there were initial fears that two people needed rescuing, but they arrived to find a single hiker, who was flown to the capital, Reykjavík.
This week’s eruption, which Icelandic authorities had been preparing for since a string of earthquakes in November, happened mere miles from the country’s Blue Lagoon—a human-made geothermal pool that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists annually. It’s been ordered closed until at least Dec. 28 because of the eruption.
Grindavík has also been evacuated as a precaution, but hikers are legally permitted to trek near the volcanic site, at their own risk.
The Guardian reported that police released a lengthy warning to other hikers considering making the same trek, writing: “The first 500 meters are on a decent path, but then rough, rough lava takes over, which is extremely difficult to cross. It can be assumed that it will take an experienced hiker about 4-5 hours to walk this route, which is not for everyone.”
Authorities also warned of wet surfaces freezing on Wednesday, and that there is also “considerable gas pollution and uncertainty in the area.”