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– We tried to get out. As we walked to the front door, everything collapsed around us. And we stood in the middle of the landslide and we had clay and house debris all around us. So we couldn’t get to the front door, it didn’t exist anymore, Anna Sandman tells NRK.
At four in the morning on Wednesday, Sandman and her husband Jørgen woke up to what she describes as strange noises.
The house they have lived in for the last ten years began to shake. The couple were in the middle of the landslide that hit a residential area in Gjerdrum on Wednesday night.
She is upset, but says she is fine under the circumstances.
Anna Sandman (left) and her husband Jørgen were evacuated by helicopter from the landslide in Gjerdrum. Here with her daughter Michelle (19).
Photo: Private
I didn’t know if a new landslide would come
The night before Wednesday, the family home roared around them as the couple walked out into what was once the entrance. There it was no longer thanks.
Fortunately, the wardrobes with warm clothes remained. Anna and Jørgen got jackets and shoes, and the Dalmatians in the family, Zajka (10) were with them.
They were unable to take their mobile phones. The three of them stood in what was once the entrance to the house, waiting for help.
All around them they heard the sounds of the landslide. They didn’t know if it was the sound of the earth and the building mass that fell, or if there were major landslides on the way.
Sandman repeatedly calls it all unreal:
– It happens in the cinema, it cannot happen in reality!
Jørgen had been injured running out of the house and was beginning to feel cold, Sandman says. Due to what later turned out to be a broken collarbone, they were unable to put the jacket on properly.
Zajka (10) left the house, but could not be evacuated with his family. Here with stepfather Jørgen, who is currently in the hospital.
Photo: Private
Scared to move
They were afraid to move, for fear that the ground would be unstable. Zajka the dog remained calm at his feet as he waited for help.
When they heard the sound of helicopters, Sandman began waving things to be seen. After what she thinks is an hour, they were found. First, Jørgen was picked up by rescue personnel.
– When the helicopter arrived, I said that they had to take Jørgen first, because he was injured. Then they came and picked me up. Then I tried to tell him that the dog had to get up too. Rescuers understandably said it’s the people who need to be picked up first, says a clearly marked Sandman.
She describes the relief she felt to be found, to be picked up before “worse things could happen.” But also the impact of having to leave a loved one in the collapse.
– When I realized that Zajka couldn’t be with us in the helicopter, it was a shock. So I thought I hoped it was okay.
I hope to meet again
While the parents were picked up by helicopter, the daughter, Michelle, 19, was at her home in Oslo.
A childhood friend called her and told her that there had been a landslide in the neighborhood where Michelle grew up.
Michelle did not contact her parents until her father borrowed a phone from the ambulance. While her father was being taken to the hospital, she still did not know how to find her mother.
– I saw on NRK that those who were evacuated were sent to the Olavsgaard hotel. I still hadn’t been able to talk to my mother, but I got dressed, packed a suitcase for my mother, and walked out the door, says Michelle.
Now Anna and Michelle are reunited at the hotel, while Jørgen is in the hospital. He’s gotten them to talk to him on the phone and says he’s fine, under the terms.
But there is a missing family member. Zajka.
– We understand that there are many injured, but it is part of our family. It is clear that one is very affected. We hope a small miracle, that we see her again. She has had a very special place in our lives for ten years. So we hope to meet again, says Anna.
Dog rescued from avalanche
At one in the afternoon on Thursday, there were signs of good news. Jessheim vet Stefan Feterik (home vet), who has helped several desperate dog owners in Gjerdum as of Wednesday, has spoken to a Luftambulansen doctor who says they have rescued a Dalmatian from the avalanche. He shared the news on his Facebook page, but this has not been confirmed.
In front of NRK, the director of operations Karianne Knudsen in the Eastern Police District confirms that a dog has been rescued from the avalanche zone by helicopter, but cannot confirm that it is Zajka.
– The dog has been rescued in good condition and has been cared for by a family friend, says Knudsen.
Dog owner Anna Sandman tells NRK last night that she hopes for the best, but that it has not been confirmed that it is Zajka who has been rescued.
Fortunately, the Jørgen man is fine, says Sandman. He underwent surgery and the family hopes they can reunite Thursday at a Gardermoen hotel.
