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GJERDRUM (VG) Although specially trained groups in various rescue services are ready to move to the avalanche area, there is no unanimous vote to continue the search tonight.
Behind the barriers in the landslide area, specially trained firefighters are sitting and scratching their fingers after receiving a clear signal to enter the avalanche area and do what they can.
They barely made it today, before the police towards the evening decided to stop the search operation on the ground due to darkness.
– They’re impatient and ready to come in and make an effort, Nedre Romerike Brannvesen’s COO Geir Søndrål tells VG.
Nine people are still missing after Wednesday’s dramatic landslide at Ask in Gjerdrum on Wednesday night.
The leader of the police task force, Roger Pettersen, has explained that it is too risky to search the avalanche area in the dark for it to be justifiable to continue the operation.
That decision is also supported by Søndrål:
ENTRY INTO THE SEARCH: It’s too risky to apply at night according to police task leader Roger Pettersen.
– In rescue management we completely agree on what is right to do and we believe it is right to end now, he says.
At the same time, the head of health operations, Bjørn Nuland, has said that the chances of finding survivors diminish as time progresses.
– As time passes, the likelihood of finding survivors becomes less and less, Nuland said during a news conference on Friday afternoon.
Just hours earlier, ground crews had found a person dead within the area of the landslide. The person in question has not yet been identified by the police.
Now police will use drones and heat search cameras to search for survivors until daylight returns on Saturday morning.
IMPATIENT: The chief of fire operations, Geir Søndrål, tells VG that specially trained firefighters are eager to begin rescue work in the landslide area. Photo: Hanna Kristin Hjardar
Excludes the use of headlights
According to the chief of police operations on Friday night, Dag André Sylju, it is also not possible to use floodlights to illuminate the area at night and continue the search.
It is critical to the safety of the rescue team that they have a continuous overview of the avalanche edges while there are people in the area.
– Light sources in no way replace daylight. This is an evaluation done in consultation with the experts. It is not advisable, it will be too dangerous, Søndrål tells VG.
He emphasizes that there is no disagreement on the matter among the experts on the ground about the end of the rescue operation on the ground tonight.
Now they will use the time ahead tonight to carefully plan their search for Saturday.
– We are not wasting time, because much of the success here is due to good planning and information gathering, Operations Manager Roger Pettersen said Friday afternoon.
THE SLIDE: The houses that are in color have disappeared in the landslide. The houses that are in shades of gray are still standing. The yellow field shows where the landslide went. . Graphics: KENNETH LAUVENG
It’s still a rescue operation
Nuland explains that the medical group at the scene still has reason to believe that there may be survivors of the landslide.
– There are examples of animals taken alive after a long time. There may be air pockets in the wreckage. We work to save lives until hope runs out, he tells VG.
He also agrees that it was fine to finish the ground search tonight.
– Landslides have occurred today from the steep edges of the avalanche and the rescue management believes that it is too dangerous to continue searches at night when it is dark and it is impossible to see the edges of the avalanche.
Nuland says that today there has been a large security apparatus around the personnel who have been inside the collapsed house and removed the deceased.
– The edges of the avalanche have been closely monitored. Colleagues have been prepared with equipment for the rapid evacuation of personnel.
BROAD AGREEMENT: Fire, health and police task leaders confirm that they agree with the decision not to continue in the landslide area while it is dark. On the left is the fire task leader, Geir Søndrål, and on the right is the police task leader, Dag André Sylju. Photo: Hanna Hjardar
