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Rescue teams searching for survivors four days after a landslide washed away houses in a Norwegian village found no sign of life among the ruined buildings and rubble.
Two bodies have been recovered, but investigators are searching for eight more people believed to be missing.
Search teams on the ground were aided by helicopters and drones with heat-sensing cameras amid harsh winter conditions on the devastated hillside in the town of Ask, about 16 miles northeast of Oslo.
Norwegian police vowed not to narrow the search despite the fact that a rescue team from neighboring Sweden has already returned home.
Local Police Chief Ida Melbo Oeystese said survivors can still be found in the air pockets formed inside the destroyed buildings.
“Medically, you can survive for several days if you have air,” he told reporters at a news conference.
By Saturday afternoon, a second body had been found in the area, after the first was found on Friday.
So far, only one Dalmatian dog has been rescued alive from the ruins.
The landslide is the worst in modern Norwegian history and has shocked the citizens of the Nordic nation.
Ravine
Late on Friday, Norwegian police released the names and years of birth of the 10 people initially reported missing.
They include a two year old.
Authorities have not yet identified the two recovered bodies.
The landslide cut through a road through Ask, home to some 5,000 people, and left a deep crater-like ravine that cars could not pass through.
The photos and video footage showed dramatic scenes of buildings hanging loose at the edge of the ravine, some 700 meters long and 300 meters wide.
At least nine buildings with more than 30 apartments were destroyed.
The rescue operation was hampered by limited daylight hours, fears of further soil erosion, and the site’s fragile soil, which is unlikely to support the weight of the rescue team, including a heavy vehicle from the Norwegian army.
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated and authorities said up to 1,500 people could be moved from the area amid fears of further landslides. – AP
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