OSLO – A major landslide destroyed homes overnight in a village in Norway near here, leaving at least 11 people unaccounted for and 10 injured, said police and local media yesterday.
Video footage from the scene showed a whole hillside collapsed in Ask, in the municipality of Gjerdrum, 25km northeast of the capital. Homes were left crushed and buried in dark mud.
Snow fell throughout the morning as emergency services evacuated the injured and attempted to secure houses still standing. Some homes were left teetering on the edge of the crater left behind by the slide, with a few falling over the edge as the day went on.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who travelled to the village of some 1,000 people yesterday, described the landslide as “one of the largest” the country has seen.
“It’s a dramatic experience to be here,” she told reporters, expressing particular concern for those still missing.
“The situation is still so unstable with the mud that it’s not yet possible to do anything other than helicopter rescues.”
Norwegian media said 700 people have been evacuated from their homes, and the municipality warned that as many as 1,500 may need to leave the region out of safety concerns.
Some still missing
Around 8pm (1900 GMT), police said 11 people are still unaccounted for, based on residents registered in the area, with some of the missing being children.
“We believe that there are people in that landslide area, but whether it is 11 or fewer, we cannot determine with certainty,” chief of operations Roger Pettersen told broadcaster NRK.
In a statement published online, police stressed that the figure is uncertain, and could both go down and up as they are unsure if any visitors were in the houses.
The search will continue overnight, with cops using helicopters and drones equipped with thermal cameras.
Police said 10 people were injured, with one transferred here with serious injuries.
“Police are designating this as a disaster,” said Pettersen.
Emergency calls came in from people saying their whole house was moving, he said.
“There are dramatic reports, and the situation is serious.”
According to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), what happened was a so-called “quick clay slide” of approximately 300m by 700m.
“This is the largest landslide in recent times in Norway, considering the number of houses involved and the number of evacuees,” NVE spokesman Laila Hoivik told AFP.
Further slides unlikely
Quick clay is a sort of clay found in Norway and Sweden that can collapse and turn to fluid when overstressed.
“The area has been surveyed earlier, and is known to contain quick clay. The possibility of similar large slides in the area is low at the moment,” said Hoivik.
Swedish daily Aftonbladet reported that Sweden is sending specially trained personnel to help in the rescue effort.
“We will help in the search for missing people and secure buildings,” operations leader Stefan Karlsson of the Gothenburg emergency services told the paper.
Norway’s King Harald, in a statement, said the accident has “made a deep impression on me and my family”.
“My thoughts are with everyone affected, the injured, those who lost their homes and are now living in fear and uncertainty of the full extent of the disaster.” – AFP, December 31, 2020
