Four missing persons are children under 16 – VG

– We fear that the five did not manage to get out of the cabin and that they may have died in the fire, says Per Erik Hagen, who is the chief of police in Lofoten and Vesterålen.

Five people are missing after the fire on Saturday morning, all residents of Vågan municipality in Lofoten. Four of the missing are children under the age of 16, police say. All family members have been notified.

Police were notified of the fire at 0430 hours on Saturday night, and police say the cabin was set on fire when emergency services arrived on the scene.

Searches have been made both from the air and on the ground, but so far no findings have been found, police say.

– The goal is to start work at the fire site today, as long as it has cooled down so the work can be implemented, Hagen tells VG.

Run to alert

A man managed to escape from the burning cabin.

He got out of the booth in his sleep, and when he tried to get into the booth, he realized it was useless, operations manager Ivar Bo Nilsson said Saturday morning. Telephone coverage in the area is very poor, and he had to run about four kilometers without clothes and shoes, before finding a house with people in it, who were notified by the emergency services, the police also reported.

The police further claim that the man was sent to Stokmarknes hospital and is severely traumatized.

– This is a very tragic event. The municipality takes care of relatives as best it can. This is a small local community and everyone is affected by such a terrible incident, says Police Chief Hagen.

The municipality of origin has established crisis personnel

All of the missing come from the Vågan municipality in Lofoten, which on Saturday morning has put crisis staff on. Crisis teams have been established for relatives.

– We are a municipality with just under 10,000 inhabitants. The fact that five of our inhabitants are now missing affects us greatly. There are many who know many here, the mayor, Frank Johnsen, tells VG on Saturday morning.

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The police do not know the cause of the fire. An on-site investigation will begin. A search is also being conducted around the cockpit.

– The police opened a case and launched an investigation, but there is currently no indication that this is anything more than a tragic accident, says Police Chief Hagen.

He informs VG that two forensic technicians from Kripos have been sent to the scene by helicopter, as well as two people from the identification group.

– The goal is to search for the missing and then find out the cause of the fire, Hagen tells VG.

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Kripos and Civil Defense Assistance

Civil Defense attends early Saturday afternoon with staff from Harstad, Svolvær and Vesterålen.

– In total, we have between 14 and 16 pieces in action, where we support the police with personnel, vehicles, tents, lights and heating. In addition to this, we help with surveillance, security and search, says civil defense inspector Håvard Solhaug to VG.

Police stated this morning that it was too early to enter the scene of the fire at this time.

– It’s very hot there and you have to cool it down. Fire crews and police are now on duty at the scene of the fire, says operations manager Bo Nilsson.

Work on the fire site will begin as soon as it has cooled down sufficiently, probably already in the afternoon.