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HERE SHE COVERS: The red ring shows the area in the middle of the landslide where Aud-Margaret was. Photo: 330 Squadron, Armed Forces
When the landslide occurred in Gjerdrum, Aud-Margaret (64) clung to the mattress as she navigated through the crater. Wearing only her nightgown, she sat up and listened to the screams of the others.
– I woke up when the house shook and I thought it was an earthquake. I clung to the mattress, and all of a sudden the whole wall of the house slammed open. I didn’t understand anything until I felt like I had snow on my face, Aud-Margaret Vamsæter Kogstad (64) tells VG.
She does not want to be portrayed in connection with the case.
Then the house collapsed and Kogstad was sent speeding off the second floor of his apartment at Ask in Gjerdrum.
– On my thick Jensen mattress, I navigated to the bottom of the avalanche. It was completely absurd.
When Kogstad hit rock bottom, he brought power around him from all sides. Using the mattress topper, he made a kind of cave at the bottom of the avalanche.
There he sat for almost three hours.
I heard people asking for help
Kongstad goes on to tell about the absurd time he sat down in the middle of the great landslide.
– Around me there was everything, from stones, chairs, a thuja hedge, sofas, tables and a car.
– At one point I heard someone asking for help. Shortly after, there was a huge explosion and after that I didn’t hear any more voices, says the 64-year-old.
She believes it was a long time before she saw a helicopter searching the area with a searchlight. It was still dark when a rescue worker was fired to pick up Kogstad.
THE HOUSE IS GONE: There is only one big hole left where Aud-Margaret’s house was.
– When I saw them start to rescue someone on the other side of the landslide area, I started to say hello. When the rescuer picked me up, we didn’t say anything to each other. He just calmly patted me on the back.
It was 07:10 when she was placed in a fire truck with others who had been recovered from the avalanche area.
There she was sitting on the baby with some abrasions on her body, just a few hundred meters from the house that is now completely demolished by the avalanche.
– Knowing that you are saved then, is absolutely incredible. It is to receive life as a gift again.
– All my belongings are gone, and I only have my nightgown left. But I live, says Kogstad.
SEARCH JOB: 10 people are still missing in connection with the landslide in Gjeldrum, and police are actively searching the avalanche area with, among other things, helicopters and drones. Photo: Kyrre Lien
The nonsense of living in a “clay hole”
On Thursday night, he can still barely fathom what happened.
The former primary school teacher from Gjerdrum says that her friends take care of her and that, depending on the conditions, she is doing well.
– I have seen it on television, but I cannot identify with the fact that I have been part of it and that I have been there.
– I think I must have had an army of angels who took care of me, says Kogstad.
She says the housing association has long joked that they live in a “clay hole.” However, they had never imagined that it could go so wrong.
– It’s very, very painful. You probably know all the names. “I still sincerely hope that we find them, we must not lose hope,” he says Thursday afternoon.
Will return to Gjerdrum
Kogstad is determined to return to Gjerdrum when she finally has to find a new place to live.
– Is my town. I want to go back, but this time I want mountains under my feet, says the 64-year-old, who repeatedly emphasizes that she cannot understand why she has been so lucky.
Kogstad is still greatly affected by the circumstances, and the numbness in his body attests to yesterday’s events.
– But I think I am strong myself, and speaking of things I will be able to process this. At this time, first and foremost, I have my condolences for all who miss or have lost someone.
– These are the ones I’m crying about now.
