Tourist dead, and four others stuck after ice collapses in 131ft frozen waterfall

A tourist has died after a ‘big lump’ of ice plummeted at a Russian beauty spot, four remain stuck under a frozen waterfall.

Rescue workers arriving by helicopter from the 131ft Vilyuchinsky Waterfall were ready to hover two of the party of seven to the hospital.

Eyewitnesses were able to rescue a “gravely” wounded boy from the “Tsar glacier” but a search operation proceeded in the -11C conditions in the south of the Kamchatka peninsula.

Witnesses described the incident of horror that occurred when “a large lump fell from the giant icicle”

“One person died, another was brought out and taken downhill from the waterfall and four people left under the ice,” said a spokesperson for the regional Ministry of Emergencies.

Rescuers were at a remote location in the Russian volcanoes-and-the Kamchatka Peninsula glaciers with news that one person had died.

The party of seven plus a guide was marooned at the Vilyuchinsky waterfall on the Pacific coast of the country in the south of the area, the accounts said.

But four were confirmed trapped under the crashed ice in a Thursday crash that is Russia’s Orthodox Christmas Day.

An emergency Mi-8 helicopter with rescuers, medics and investigators was sent to the tourist spot.

Both adults and children were taken out of the ice fall and flown to the hospital.

The waterfall, one of the most popular tourist attractions on the scenic peninsula, is situated on the northwestern slope of the Vilyuchinsky volcano.

The waterfall of 131 ft is created from the outflow of thawing glaciers.

It also freezes in winter, resembling a giant glacier, and is a tourist attraction for one of Russia’s most beautiful areas, known as the Land of Fire and Ice, nine time zones east of Moscow, the capital city.