Iceland crash: Three British tourists including child killed after jeep plunges off bridge

Vehicle smashed through railing on high bridge in Skeidararsandur in southern Iceland

Three people have died, including a child, after a car carrying seven British tourists crashed while crossing a bridge in Iceland, authorities have said.

The four other passengers, which include two children, are believed to be critically injured after the 4x4 vehicle smashed through a railing on a high bridge in Skeidararsandur, southern Iceland.

The Toyota Land Cruiser SUV crashed at 9.30am yesterday amid freezing conditions and landed on a rocky river bank several metres below.

Tour guide Adolf Erlingsson was among the first at the scene described it as a “very difficult situation”.

“It was horrible,” he told the Associated Press. “The car seemed to have hit the ground many meters from where it stopped. We struggled getting everyone out.”

“Four people were out of the car, one of them deceased,” he told the BBC. “Then there were three people, trapped in the car and I think two of them were deceased.

“The driver was alive and trapped more or less under the dashboard.

“We were trying to get the people out of the car and helping them. It was a very difficult situation.”

He said he spoke to some people who were “semi-conscious” outside the vehicle.

“I tried to talk a bit to the driver to calm him down. He was trapped inside the car,” he added.

Police only identified the victims as British. Their names and ages have not been released.

Chief Superintendent Sveinn Kristjan Runarsso said the injured were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, but added: “We haven’t been able to talk to them about what happened.”

It is unclear how the driver lost control of the vehicle.

The accident took place on a road which connects coastal towns and villages on the volcanic island home to 350,000 people.

Iceland has seen a huge tourist boom in recent years but its infrastructure has not always kept up. Roads are usually narrow, with many one-lane bridges.

Of the 18 people who have died in traffic accidents in Iceland this year, half of them have been foreign nationals. Last year was the first on record when more foreigners died than residents, according to the Icelandic Transport Authority.

This year 2.5 million tourists visited Iceland, compared with half a million in 2011, according to the Icelandic Tourist Board.

AP contributed to this article