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Rescue teams searching for survivors four days after a landslide washed away houses in a Norwegian village found no signs of life Saturday amid the ruined buildings and rubble.
Three bodies have been recovered, but investigators are still searching for another seven people believed to be missing.
Haakon Mosvold Larsen / AP
A candle burns on Saturday, January 2, 2021, for the victims of the massive landslide that affected the residential area of Ask in Gjerdrum, Norway on Wednesday.
The landslide in the village of Ask is the worst in modern Norwegian history and has shocked the citizens of the Nordic nation.
Search teams patrolled with dogs as helicopters and drones with heat-detecting cameras flew amid harsh winter conditions over the devastated hillside in Ask, a village of 5,000 people 25 kilometers northeast of Oslo.
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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 airbags inside the destroyed buildings.
“Medically, you can survive for several days if you have air,” he told reporters at a news conference.
Late on Saturday, a second and third bodies were found after the first was discovered on Friday. So far, only one Dalmatian dog has been rescued alive from the ruins.
King Harald V, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon plan to visit the disaster area on Sunday to pay their respects to the victims and meet with residents and rescuers. The 83-year-old monarch said in his New Year’s speech that the royal family had been deeply moved by the tragedy.
Tor Erik Schroeder / AP
The landslide cut across a road through Ask, leaving a deep ravine that cars could not pass.
Norwegian police have released the names and years of birth of the 10 people initially reported missing, including a 2-year-old boy. Authorities have not yet identified the three recovered bodies.
The early Wednesday morning landslide cut through a road through Ask, leaving a deep crater-like ravine.
Photos and videos showed buildings hanging on the edge of the ravine, which grew to be 700 meters long and 300 meters wide. At least nine buildings with more than 30 apartments were destroyed.
The rescue operation is hampered by the limited number of hours of daylight in Norway at this time of year and fears of further erosion. The terrain is fragile at the site and cannot 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.
Tor Erik Schroeder / AP
Rescue teams work in the Ask area in Gjerdrum on Saturday, January 2, 2021, after a massive landslide crashed into a residential area near the Norwegian capital on Wednesday.
The exact cause of the accident is not yet known, but the municipality of Gjerdrum, where Ask is located, is known for having a lot of fast clay, a material that can change from a solid to a liquid form.
Experts said the clay substance combined with excessive precipitation and Norway’s typical humid climate at this time of year may have contributed to the landslide.
Norwegian authorities warned people in 2005 not to build residential buildings in the area, but houses were eventually built there later in the decade.
Spokeswoman Toril Hofshagen from Norway’s Directorate for Water Resources and Energy said the landslide is unique in its destruction.
“Since 1893 there has not been a rapid clay landslide of this dimension in Norway,” Hofshagen told the media on Saturday.
