Four tourists from the United States, the Netherlands and Belgium have been killed during a sightseeing trip in Iceland after their small plane crashed into a lake.
The Cessna 172 was discovered in Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland's second-largest, at around 11pm local time yesterday, the Icelandic Coast Guard said in a statement.
The aircraft was found in a portion of the lake about 30 miles (50 kilometres) east of Reykjavik.
The Cessna 172 plane took off from the domestic airport in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, on Thursday, for a scheduled two-hour sightseeing tour.
It last made contact with aviation authorities about an hour later. It did not send a distress signal.
The pilot, Haraldur Diego, 49, was considered one of Iceland's most prominent aviators and a pioneer of photography tours. More than 1,000 members of Iceland´s Search and Rescue organization, along with boats, divers and two Icelandic Coast Guard helicopters, had combed the Thingvellir National Park area in harsh winter weather for the plane.
Yesterday Asgrimur Larus Asgrimsson, head of operations at the Icelandic Coast Guard, said that 'mobile phone data has given us a reason to narrow the search area down to the Thingvellir area'.