On Sunday (10 April) afternoon, an accident happened on Longyearbreen, a glacier a few kilometres south of Longyearbyen, during a snow mobile tour. One person was severely injured and later officially confirmed dead.
Official information that is publically available so far is limited to the fact that the casualty was a woman who was not a local resident. The accident happened during a private snow mobile tour. So far, there is no information available regarding the accident cause.
Longyearbreen is a common snow mobile route, and traffic there is frequent during the season.
Lower Longyearbreen. This is the area where the fatal snow mobile accident happened yesterday afternoon (photo taken in late March 2022).
P.S. in an earlier version of this article it was written that the casualty was travelling with a guided group. This was not correct. She was travelling with a group with both local and non-local members.
Completion: On Monday, the name of the casualty was released by the authorities after consultation with her family. It was a Norwegian woman from Trondheim.