[ad_1]
Five specially trained firefighters travel from Bergen to Gjerdrum on Saturday night to help search the area of the landslide.
Seven people remain missing after the landslide at Ask in Gjerdrum. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB
There is a use team (Urban Search and Rescue) from Bergen that will contribute to the search in the landslide area. This is confirmed by Fire Chief Leif Linde in the Bergen Fire Service to BT on Saturday night.
The team is specially trained for all kinds of special rescues.
Linde says they have been in dialogue with Gjerdrum for several days.
– We were contacted on New Years Eve to see if we had a chance to contribute. So far it has not been necessary, but on Saturday morning they made contact. They want crews that have the experience to go into landslides. We have that here in Bergen, says Linde.
In Bergen, there are a total of four security teams with a total of 24 people who have this special competence. So far, only one team travels.
– The crews are specially trained for all kinds of rope rescue missions and all kinds of special rescue. They practice this weekly, Linde says.
Enter the avalanche zone on Sunday
He has received information that the team will enter the landslide zone on Sunday morning.
Tore Vetaas will lead the fire service use rescue group.
Linde points out that it is very important to have enough crews that can carry out the extensive rescue work.
– You must always be very focused. It is a very risky and demanding job.
The fire chief says that so far the team knows nothing more about the rescue operation than they have seen in the media.
Fire Chief Leif Linde of the Bergen Fire Service. Photo: Marita Aarekol
– They probably have an extensive report there. The crew is well trained to handle such situations.
It is the 110 switchboard to the east that coordinates the need for firefighting teams in the rescue operation.
Three teams to use in the landslide area
Three of the so-called use teams worked in the landslide area in Gjerdrum on Saturday to search for the missing.
– The rescue operation is in full swing. As of now, there are three different use teams working within the landslide area, as well as dog teams. There are USAR teams from Trøndelag, Oslo and Nedre Romerike, as well as dog teams from the Oslo police district that are now in the landslide area, Alkvist said at the press conference on Saturday morning.
There are also health resources.
Early Saturday, it became clear that the Swedish USAR team that has been in Gjerdrum, is traveling back to Sweden after the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning announced that they currently have sufficient resources, according to NTB.
They have examined cars in the avalanche.
According to Alkvist, searches on Saturday are conducted according to probability calculations of where people are expected to be.
– Among other things, they have managed to get into a couple of cars that have been examined.
Alkvist added that the use of pavement of the Armed Forces, a special vehicle, in the area is still being considered.
