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GJERDRUM / OSLO (VG) As soon as dawn breaks, rescue teams will begin new searches for survivors of the landslide. They are planning to expand the search area.
– It will use the input path that has been set. Then, based on the intelligence and what they have obtained, they will try to expand the search to a larger part of the landslide area, Operations Manager Gisle Sveen in the Eastern Police District tells VG on Saturday night.
During Friday, a temporary route was made that has allowed the rescue teams to travel over the avalanche. The land crews have been within the central landslide area.
Towards night, the police decided to stop the search operation on the ground due to the darkness. Drones and heat search cameras have been used to search for survivors. Several drones have been in the air over the dark residential area throughout the night.
– No new discoveries have been made tonight. We hope that the efforts that are made when daylight comes will give us more information and hopefully we will discover the people who are in the area of the landslide, Sveen tells VG early Saturday morning.
He stresses that this is still a rescue operation.
– It is with this approach that the search begins today.
Since Friday night, and throughout the night, there has been continuous work on plans to start the ground search again as soon as possible. The barricades around the landslide area are continuously patrolled.
Nine people are still missing after the landslide at Ask in Gjerdrum on Wednesday night. On Friday, police found a person dead within the area of the landslide, who has not been identified. They expect the autopsy to be ready by Saturday.
GROUND BREAKAGE SEARCH: Too risky to apply at night, according to police.
Additional USAR crews
A USAR team with five dog handlers went from Trondheim to Gjerdrum on Friday to assist in the search. The USAR team in the Roman Empire is already receiving assistance from Oslo.
A USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team is a specially trained search team that works to locate and rescue people from demolished buildings, bridges, tunnels, or other urban or industrial structures.
A Swedish rescue group from the rescue service in Greater Gothenburg also helps Norwegian rescuers. They took part in the action on Friday alongside the Norwegian USAR crew.
The edges of the landslides are still unstable. So far, nine buildings with 31 homes have been taken.
Airbags can be found
The chief of health operations, Bjørn Nuland, said late Friday that the chances of finding survivors dwindle as time progresses.
At the same time, he says the medical group at the site 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 told VG.
– complicated
About 30 people have been inside the landslide zone on Friday. The search on the ground is complicated and risky, but there are routines for whether there should be new landslides in order to warn, Fire Chief Geir Søndrål explained when the search with the ground crews ended on Friday night.
– We make plans to broaden the search. The goal is to continue the search in full force tomorrow, he said.
Rescue work is done with rescue dogs. It was on the dog’s instructions that the deceased was found on Friday.
– We have crews that look for points that rescue dogs detect and mark. We went out using polystyrene plates. Safety is ensured by the fact that we have surveillance at the edge, Søndrål explained on Friday.
According to NTB, the thick polystyrene insulating panels are placed like dominoes in the landslide area so that it is possible to move there.
You can use the paving of the Armed Forces
The Armed Forces Engineer Battalion is also ready to help with a paver that can take crews to houses at the bottom of the landslide area. The pavement has not yet been used because it was considered too heavy for the ground conditions in the area where it was recorded.
The tops of the vehicles slide onto a 26-meter-long bridge. The Armed Forces use the paver, among other things, to cross rivers.
– We help the police with equipment and crew. If the conditions are acceptable, we lay pavers. It can happen tomorrow, Joachim Bjørnbak said on defense Friday night.