American tourist Scott Stevens and his 10-year-old daughter, Wylde, narrowly escaped a deadly cave collapse in Iceland’s Breiðamerkurjökull ice cave on Sunday. Stevens, from Austin, Texas, had been photographing his daughter and considered staying to change camera lenses but decided against it to avoid holding up the group behind them. Moments after they exited the cave, a loud “boom” signaled the collapse.
Wylde Stevens, 10, toured the Breiðamerkurjökull ice cave before its collapse. Scott Stevens
“I felt like if you grabbed that other lens, you’d 100% be dead right now,” Wylde said. Tragically, an American man was killed, and an American woman was injured in the incident. The Stevens family was in a separate group from the victims, but the experience left them deeply shaken.
Stevens described the immediate aftermath, recalling how his tour guide ran to the scene, visibly distraught and covered in blood from the deceased. The guides and a doctor on-site tried to assist the injured woman. The US State Department confirmed the death and injury of the American tourists, offering consular assistance. Iceland’s ice caves, while popular, pose significant risks, as this tragic event underscored.
