Landslides in central Halden: – 40 meters have fallen into the river.

HALDEN (Dagbladet): Police have blocked parts of the city bridge in downtown Halden after a landslide Thursday night.

Just before 9 p.m., a message reached emergency services about a landslide that had occurred on one of Halden’s main streets and on the river. All emergency services went to the scene, operations manager Stig Ødegård tells Dagbladet.

The task leader says they have evacuated an apartment complex with 45 people as a result of the landslide.

– We have a geologist who has come to make an assessment of whether there is a danger of a new landslide. This means that there has been a company that for the municipality of Halden has dug to eliminate the danger of slipping, and during this work several meters of sand that make up the bottom have been drained. We are now assessing whether there is a danger of more slipping, Ødegård says at 00.30 on Friday night.

Ulf Ellingsen, Halden Municipality Technical Director, also confirms to Dagbladet that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration is working on a project at the site and that the landslide has occurred in connection with this work.

Task leader Ødegård says residents in the nearest address have been evacuated as a result of the landslide, and there are a total of 45 people.

– They will be evacuated until tomorrow morning at the latest, says Ødegård.

According to the task leader, there is currently no indication that people have joined the landslide.

– A river search will be conducted in the case, but we have no indication or information that someone is missing, Ødegård says.

– Crack about 40 meters long where parts of the pier promenade have run into the river. The ride was closed, police wrote on Twitter Thursday night.

Worked on site

Operations manager Terje Skafsnes told Dagbladet Thursday night that the contractor working on the site should have a geologist to assess the area tomorrow. At 11:00 pm he said they are in an “evaluation phase.”

– There is a housing complex in the back, on the other side of the road, so now we make sure to evacuate them to avoid taking risks. All agencies, including NVE, are on the way, and the project manager of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration has called his colleagues so that we have all the information on the table. In addition, we will discuss other measures, Ellingsen said.

Not stressed

– How serious is the situation?

– The most important thing now is to make sure it doesn’t get more serious than it already is. We do not take any risks with respect to those who live in the area, and as seen at the moment, we are in control.

Jan Rune Nilsen is co-owner of the address that has been evacuated.

– I’m not that stressed about this. I went downstairs and gave some words of comfort to those who were evacuated, Nilsen told Dagbladet on Thursday night.

Dagbladet is following the case.