A group of tourists in Iceland came perilously close to losing their lives while posing for a photo on a dangerous area of beach land.
Photographer Gabriel Antal shared heartstopping footage to Instagram, under the handle hybaj_na_island, of the moment the group stopped to take pictures on the rocks at Reynisfjara, a famous black sand beach located in southern Iceland, near the town of Vík í Mýrdal.
“We were filming from a safe distance and saw these tourists taking turns and climbing on basalt rocks even though the waves were smashing them,” Antal told Newsweek. “So it was very predictable that one of them would be washed down sooner or later.”
A popular tourist spot, due to its distinctive basalt columns, the Reynisdrangar sea stacks, and volcanic black sand, visitors to Reynisfjara must exercise caution due to the powerful and often unpredictable “sneaker” waves that can appear with little warning and are capable of dragging people out to sea.
On August 2, a 9-year-old German girl who was visiting the beach with her father and sister died after being swept away by one of these dangerous waves.
As a precaution, visitors are advised to never turn their back on the ocean and keep a safe distance from the water’s edge. Unfortunately the tourists who feature in Antal’s video failed to heed those warnings, much to his obvious frustration.
In the video, an individual in an orange jacket can be seen sitting on the rocks, close to the water, at the side of the beach, posing for a photo while another tourist in a red jacket and another in a white one stand close by taking pictures.
Everything changes a moment later, however, when a series of waves begin the crash against the rocks. The photographers in the red and white jackets run for cover, but the individual in the orange jacket is not so fortunate.
Instead, they are engulfed in the waves and, as the video ends, are nowhere to be seen. “Crazy that some people risk their lives for a photo,” Antal wrote alongside the video.
Filmed on October 7, Antal confirmed that, despite the dramatic nature of what he captured in the video, everyone was fine, if a little wet.
He was nevertheless shocked by what he witnessed that day, particularly as someone had died so recently there. “I have not seen such crazy behavior at this beach before,” he said. People should be definitely more cautious. Not long ago a little girl died at this beach.”
If nothing else, Antal hopes that by posting the video on social media he can alert any future visitors to the potential dangers posed. “Hopefully they will realize how dangerous nature can be,” he said.
