– I cling to the hope that they are alive

Hans Jørgen Jansen woke up on the phone with his sister on Wednesday morning and asked her if she had seen what had happened in Gjerdrum.

Before Jansen recovered, he realized that his brother Bjørn-Ivar (40), his pregnant wife Charlot, and their daughter Alma (2 1/2) had been caught in the landslide.

– I was thinking shit. That’s not true, he tells TV 2.

Hans Jørgen spoke with his brother by phone no later than Tuesday evening.

– I spoke to him between 20 and 21 once. Then he said they should be home and have a quiet night. So sadly, they were guaranteed to be home when the landslide occurred at time 04, he says.

It was RB who wrote about Jansen first.

– Tragic

Hans Jørgen clicked on all the news sites and then realized that the building with his brother’s apartment had to be one of the first to be taken over by the avalanche.

– When I understood the magnitude of the landslide, I was completely taken aback. It’s terribly tragic, says Jansen.

The day has been a tangle of thoughts, as well as regular updates from the police.

Hans Jørgen has also tried to support his mother and sister as best he could amidst it all.

Hans Jørgen’s mother was on her way to the crisis center on Wednesday night to get help during this difficult time.

– We all think it’s terrible, and it’s harder when all we can do is wait, he says.

In the middle of the day on Wednesday, Jansen felt he had to do something. Imagine if some of those who had been evacuated knew something about your brother, sister-in-law, and niece Alma. I couldn’t let go of the thought.

Huge response

Jansen posted a post on Facebook where he asked people to say if anyone knew anything about the little family.

In three hours, his post was shared more than two thousand times.

– My thought, sharing the post, was just a search for answers. He had never dreamed that he would get such a good answer. It’s overwhelming and absolutely fantastic to see people I’ve never spoken to, across the country, care and think of us, she says.

He also boasts of all those who defend those who have lost everything they possess in the landslide.

– Show that there is a huge warmth of heart out there, say and send a thought to all who are in your situation and miss their loved ones.

Waiting for phone

Hans Jørgen’s brother, Bjørn-Ivar, his wife Charlot and their joint daughter Alma (2 1/2) have lived in the apartment in Gjerdrum for about a year.

– They moved from Skedsmo to get closer to the place of childhood Gjerdrum. And in February they were expecting another child, says Hans Jørgen and is silent.

Hans Jørgen now walks in a circle at home, in his own living room, waiting for a phone call from the police.

– The last time I spoke to the policewoman, she said they should call me when they have something new to say. Now I, my partner and our children are sitting waiting for an answer, he says.

Police said Wednesday night that they are still looking for survivors and the undead.

– As long as the police hope that the disappeared may be alive, I cling to hope. There is a possibility that they are in a part of the landslide where it is possible to survive, says Hans Jørgen.