A rescue helicopter flies over the landslide.
Photographer: Terje Bendiksby / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Terje Bendiksby / AFP / Getty Images
Norwegian rescuers now recovered six bodies in a village hit by a landslide on Wednesday, not far from the nation’s capital, with 4 more people missing.
The last two discoveries were made on Sunday in the wreckage of buildings in the same area as previous discoveries, Goran Syversen, the head of the fire operation, told reporters. Rescuers have been working all night and are still looking for survivors, he said.
The rapid landslide occurred about 20 kilometers north of Oslo and follows a month of record rainfall in the capital. About 1,000 people were evacuated from the area after the landslide devastated large parts of the village.
Such landslides are known to occur in neighboring Norway and Sweden, when the rapid clay common to parts of Scandinavia fills with rainwater and turns into liquid, according to the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. Several houses were transported to the sea due to a similar landslide in June. No one was injured in the incident.