Three British tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge in Iceland.

The vehicle – a 4×4 – was carrying seven British people when the accident happened at around 9:30 GMT on Thursday, Icelandic Police said.

The other passengers in the car have been critically injured.

The Toyota Land Cruiser crashed through a railing on a one-lane bridge in southern Iceland.

It then fell around eight metres onto a river bank.

The four people injured have been taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said. Two of the injured are children.

Sveinn Kristjan Runarsson, Chief Superintendent of south Iceland Police said of the injured: “We haven’t been able to talk to them about what happened”.

One of the first people on the scene was tour guide Adolf Erlingsson, who told the Associated Press: “It was horrible.

“The car seemed to have hit the ground many metres from where it stopped. We struggled getting everyone out.”

According to local media, the crash happened between the town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur and area of Skaftafell, which is part of the Vatnajökull National Park beauty spot.