Landslides in Norway bury houses in mud; 12 people still missing

A major landslide destroyed houses overnight in a Norwegian village near the capital Oslo, leaving 12 people unintended and 10 injured, police and local media said on Wednesday. Video footage of the scene showed that an entire hill had collapsed in Ask, in the municipality of Gjerdrum, 15 miles northeast of the capital. The houses were left crushed and buried in dark mud.

Snow fell throughout the morning, while emergency services evacuated the injured and tried to secure those houses still standing. Some houses were swaying on the edge of the crater left behind by the slide, with a few falling over the edge as the day went on.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who traveled to the village of about 1,000 people on Wednesday, described the landslide as “one of the largest” the country has ever seen.

“It’s a dramatic experience to be here,” Solberg told reporters, expressing deep concern for those still missing.

“The situation is still so unstable with the mud that it is not yet possible to do anything but rescue the helicopters,” she added.

Norwegian media said 700 people had been evacuated from their homes, and the municipality warned that 1,500 may need to leave the region for safety reasons.

Earlier in the evening, police reported that 12 more people had not been identified.

“We do not know if these people are in the landslide area, if they are on vacation or otherwise cannot contact the police,” the force said in a statement.

Police said 10 people were injured and one was transferred to Oslo with serious injuries.

“Police call this a disaster,” Chief of Operations Roger Pettersen told NRK.

Emergency calls came from people who said their whole house was moving, he said.

“There are dramatic reports and the situation is serious,” Pettersen said.

According to the Norwegian Directorate of Water and Energy Resources (NVE), what happened was the so-called “rapid clay landslide” of about 328 to 766 meters.

“This is the largest landslide in Norway, given the number of houses involved and the number of evacuees,” NVE spokeswoman Laila Hoivik told AFP.

Rapid clay is a type of clay found in Norway and Sweden that can collapse and turn into fluid when overloaded.

“The area was inspected earlier and is known to contain fast clay. The possibility of similar large slides in the area is low at the moment,” Hoivik said.

The Swedish daily Aftonbladet reported that Sweden is sending specially trained personnel to help in the rescue effort.

“We will help search for the missing and secure the buildings,” Stefan Karlsson, head of operations at Gothenburg’s emergency services, told the newspaper.

Norwegian King Harald said in a statement that the accident “made a deep impression” on him.

“My thoughts are with all those affected, the injured, those who have lost their homes and are now living in fear and uncertainty about the full extent of the disaster,” he said.