Scots woman saves son in Iceland glacier drama

A SCOTS mother and her 11-year-old son survived sub-zero temperatures and blizzard conditions after becoming lost in the dark during a tour of an Icelandic glacier.

The unnamed woman, who was last night being treated for frostbite in a Reykjavik hospital, was praised by rescuers for her swift response to the emergency on Sunday afternoon, which they said helped to prevent a tragedy.

Instead of struggling to find her tour party, she rolled her snow mobile on its side, used the windshield as a windbreak then lay on top of her son for nine hours to keep him warm as temperatures fell to -10C.

The family – her husband and another son were also on the tour – had been on a day-trip with a party of 14 tourists when a blizzard blew up.

Lrus Gudmundsson, chairman of the search and rescue team, who drove an emergency vehicle up to the glacier, said a member of his team had to walk in front of the car to guide them as the visibility was so poor.

The tourists were found at about 1:30am, 40-50m from the path chosen by the travel agency that organised the tour.

The woman suffered minor frostbite to her hands and feet but was otherwise unharmed. However, she was admitted to hospital as a precaution, while her son returned to the family's hotel with his father and brother.

"We did a good job there. Luck and good organisation were helped by the audacity of those who participated in the search. Those are the reasons these people were found," said Thorvaldur Gudmundsson, the divisional manager of the county emergency crews.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Iceland Association of Search and Rescue said of the mother: "She did everything correct and she probably saved both their lives."