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The attack took place in Mohnbukta on the east side of Spitsbergen on Tuesday morning. The governor was notified of the incident at 09:25 a.m., a press release said.
There were two people in the entourage. The man who was attacked is said to have been slightly injured.
The governor’s helicopter arrived at the scene with a doctor on board. In years 11-30, both people were brought to Longyearbyen. The wounded man was taken to hospital.
– We still do not have all the details, but there is a follow-up of two that are in Mohnbukta, where they have had some kind of activity and in that sense they have been attacked. They themselves shot and killed the bear, Governor Kjerstin Askholt tells NRK.
The case is now being investigated. The two involved have not yet been questioned. Whether they were on an overnight trip or a day trip, Askholt can’t answer.
– Luckily it went well, and now it will be a periodic investigation by the police.
Askholt does not know if polar bears have been observed in the area recently.
– But there is ice there and an area where there are usually bears. It’s a typical polar bear area, he says.
Investigating the case
The police will now fly to Mohnbukta and investigate the place where the attack took place and the bear was killed.
– We need to have a little more overview of the case before we can comment further on the course of events.
According to yr.no, Tuesday is around minus 15 degrees and partly cloudy with a light breeze in Mohnbukta. In other words, the flight conditions are good.
Mohnbuka is a popular winter snowmobile hiking destination. Here is a former hunting lodge from 1928. The scooter ride from Longyearbyen is about 180 kilometers.
On the night of August 28 last year, 38-year-old Johan Jacobs Koote from the Netherlands was killed when a polar bear attacked his tent at Longyearbyen camp. Since 1971, six people have been killed by polar bears in the archipelago.
