Seven people were killed in the village of Ask, about 30 kilometers north of the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on December 30. Rescuers, who have been battling frozen weather conditions in search of survivors, have now turned their mission into a body search.
“We are now sadly receiving the message that there is no hope of finding survivors after the landslide in Gjerdrum,” Solberg said on Twitter, referring to the municipality where Ask is located.
“My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. I want to thank the rescue crews who did everything they could to save their lives.”
The President of the Norwegian Parliament, Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, called the disaster “a desperate situation for the Gjerdrum community and for the whole of Norway”.
At a press conference near the disaster site, Eastern Police District Police Chief Ida Melbo Øystes said: “In the last week we have done everything we can to save lives. We have investigated every area we could imagine. that someone could have survived. “
“But even though we gave up hope of finding survivors, the search is not over. We are now entering another phase to find all those who have disappeared,” Øystes said.
Video footage of the scene shows a collapsed hill that sent mud into the village in the early hours of the morning.