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Helsinki – Rescue teams in a Norwegian village were still searching for survivors on Saturday, four days after a landslide buried several houses.
Two bodies have been recovered so far, but teams are still searching for eight people who are still missing.
Ground search teams are assisted by helicopters and drones with heat detection cameras amid harsh winter conditions on the devastated hill of Ask, about 16 miles northeast of Oslo.
Police have promised not to slow the search, despite the fact that a rescue team from neighboring Sweden has already returned home.
Local police chief Ida Melbo Oeystese said survivors could still be found in the air pockets formed inside the destroyed buildings.
“From a medical point of view, you can survive for a few days if you have air,” he told reporters at a news conference.
A second body was found in the area on Saturday afternoon; the first was found on Friday. A Dalmatian dog was saved alive.
The landslide is the worst in the modern history of Norway and has shocked the citizens of the Nordic nation.
On Friday evening, the police announced the names and years of birth of the 10 people initially reported missing. These include a 2-year-old child. Authorities have not yet identified the two recovered bodies.
The landslide crossed a road through Ask, home to about 5,000 people, leaving a deep ravine resembling a crater that cars could not pass.
Photographs and footage showed dramatic scenes of buildings hanging on the edge of the ravine.
At least nine buildings with more than 30 apartments have been destroyed.
The rescue operation was hampered by the limited number of hours of the day, fears of further soil erosion and the fragile soil of the site, which is unlikely to support the weight of the rescue team, including a heavy army vehicle.
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated, and authorities say up to 1,500 people could be moved out of the area for fear of landslides.