70-year-old married couples drove over a bridge

The car was stopped on a hill in Barduelva and could have completely sunk if it had hit the water a little differently.

Inside the car was a married couple in their 70s. They were rescued and airlifted to the University Hospital in northern Norway. Late on Saturday night, the hospital states in a press release that the woman is unharmed, while the man’s condition is stable. They write that more tests will be done on the man.

The accident happened right next to the Strømsli bridge in Troms and Finnmark, and there is a drop of about 10 meters into the river.

– We perceive it as a stroke of luck that the car landed where it landed, if it could not have gone under the ice, operations manager Lars Meland in the Troms police district tells VG.

The man who was involved in the accident must have personally contacted emergency services.

– We had the person in the thread for quite some time. My assessment is that it could have taken much longer to detect the accident if they had not called themselves, says the director of operations.

– I was in the water for an hour.

In the dramatic rescue operation, emergency services received assistance from a rescue helicopter and divers who helped pull the couple out of the car and onto the ground.

Police reported that the car was partially filled with water. The vehicle was stopped in the river for a time while police had contact with the two in the car.

– This was quite a long and intense rescue operation. The two have been in the water for an hour before being rescued. The reason why they ended up in the water is unknown, but we recorded that it is very slippery in the place. Also, the accident happened near a fairly sharp turn, Operations Manager Meland tells NRK.

Treatment was administered at the crash site, which is located along Altevannsveien, about a mile and a half southeast of Setermoen.

The site is located in a pigsty far from rescue resources, and the police are now waiting for an opportunity to lift the car.

HRS praises the work

Northern Norway’s leading rescue center praises rescue work and write on Twitter which is a good example of interaction between emergency services and rescue resources.

A helicopter took divers to the site who participated in the work of bringing them ashore.

330 Squadron in Bodø was also involved, and a rescue helicopter was dispatched to the crash site.

Police sent the report of the descent at 5:43 p.m. on Saturday.