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Bodies of two Chinese tourists found near popular Icelandic plane wreck site

The bodies of two Chinese nationals were found near a popular tourist site in Iceland featuring the wrecked fuselage of an American DC-3 which crashed in 1973. Photo by Lydia Harper/Wikimedia Commons
The bodies of two Chinese nationals were found near a popular tourist site in Iceland featuring the wrecked fuselage of an American DC-3 which crashed in 1973. Photo by Lydia Harper/Wikimedia Commons

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Police in Iceland Friday were investigating the deaths of two Chinese tourists found dead along a hiking trail leading to the site of a decades-old American plane wreck.

The bodies of a man and woman in their 20s were discovered by a hiker Thursday near Sóheimasandur, Iceland, located along the island's southern coast about 100 miles east of Reykjavik.

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They were found near a trail leading from the coastal highway to a beach where the wreck of a DC-3 plane that crashed in 1973 is popular with tourists. The fuselage of the plane is still visible at the site. No one was killed in the accident.

South Iceland Police Superintendent Oddur Árnason told the Iceland Monitor the two victims appeared to have died from exposure, but the cause of death will not be officially determined until the autopsy. No foul play is suspected.

The Chinese embassy had been notified of the deaths, officials said. A rental car belonging to the tourists was found in a parking lot at Sóheimasandur.

There were weather warnings posted on Monday when it is believed the victims had driven to the plane wreck site, Icelandic broadcaster RUV reported. Strong storms were sweeping across Iceland with sharp wind gusts, followed by heavy snowfall and poor visibility.

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