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Four days after a violent landslide in southern Norway, rescuers have found seven dead in the disaster area. Following the first find on New Year’s Day and three on Saturday, emergency services discovered three more people who had died on Sunday. Several people were still missing at night. More than 100 hours after the disaster, rescuers did not lose hope of finding survivors.
The fate of the people in the disaster area about 40 kilometers northeast of Oslo had accompanied the Norwegians at the turn of the year. The Norwegian royal family also showed their sympathy. King Harald V, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon traveled to Gjerdrum Township to meet with representatives of the community, emergency services and those affected. In the commune church they also lit candles in memory of the victims. “That’s absolutely terrible,” Harald later said of the accident. “It is very difficult to put into words.”
The landslide in the village of Ask, which is part of the Gjerdrum municipality, occurred in the early morning of December 30. The landslide had spread for about 700 meters and a width of 300 meters and left a huge crater. At least ten people were injured and nine houses with more than 30 residential units collapsed. So far, about 1,000 people have been saved.
Rescuers have been searching for survivors since Friday.
The ground in parts of the snowy accident area was initially so unstable after the exit that it was too dangerous for rescuers to enter. Instead, helicopters and drones were used to search for survivors. Since Friday, rescuers and police dogs could also be sent on foot to the red zone in the area, where the first body was found.
Of the seven fatalities, only the identity of the first found is known: it is a 31-year-old man. Apparently, it was a friend of the Norwegian professional tennis player Casper Ruud.
“We lost a fantastic person and a fantastic citizen. I lost a friend, colleague and an important colleague from my team, ”the 22-year-old wrote on Instagram. According to the NTB news agency, the 31-year-old has worked with various sports professionals.
Ten people were missing. Among them were men, women, and two girls, ages two and thirteen.
