The woman was visiting the Eldgjá area. Photo: Andreas Tille CC-BY-SA-3.0

A woman tourist took part in a major search – for herself.

Police in southern Iceland mounted a hunt for the woman over the weekend after she was reported missing after visiting the world’s largest volcanic canyon.

Passengers on a bus at Eldgjá said the woman had left the vehicle and not returned. But the tourist, who was described as of Asian appearance and a good English speaker, had changed her clothes before returning to the bus and fellow passengers failed to recognise her.

Rescuers and police took part in a search and a coastguard helicopter was put on standby but, unknown to them, one of the volunteers who joined the hunt for the missing tourist was actually the subject of their search.

The Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið reported that it eventually dawned on the woman that she was in fact the missing person and told the police.

The search was then halted.