Rescue teams looking for survivors four days after a landslide took homes in a Norwegian village found no signs of life Saturday amid ruined buildings and debris. Three bodies have been recovered, but searchers are still searching for seven others believed to be missing.
The landslide in the village of Ask is the worst in modern Norwegian history and has shocked the citizens of the northern nation.
Search crews patrolled with dogs while helicopters and drones with heat detection cameras flew in harsh winter conditions over the devastated hill of Ask, a village of 5,000 people 25 kilometers northeast of Oslo.
Norwegian police have pledged not to reduce the search, even though a rescue team from neighboring Sweden has already returned home.
Local police chief Ida Melbo Oeystese said it could still be possible to find survivors in the air pockets inside the destroyed buildings.
“From a medical point of view, you can survive for a few days if you have air,” she told reporters at a news conference.
NTB / Erik Schroeder via REUTERS
By late Saturday, a second and third bodies had been found after a first was discovered on Friday. Only one Dalmatian dog has been saved alive from the ruins so far.
King Harald V, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon plan to visit the disaster area on Sunday to pay tribute to the victims and meet with residents and rescue workers. The 83-year-old monarch said in his New Year’s speech that the royal family was deeply moved by the tragedy.
Norwegian police have published the names and years of birth of the 10 people initially reported missing, including a 2-year-old child. Officials have not yet identified the three recovered bodies.
The landslide early Wednesday crossed a road through Ask, leaving a deep, crater-like ravine. Photos and videos showed buildings hanging on the edge of the ravine, which grew to 700 meters long and 300 meters wide. At least nine buildings with more than 30 apartments have been destroyed.
The rescue operation is hampered by the limited number of hours a day in Norway at this time of year and fears of further erosion. The ground is fragile on the spot and cannot bear the weight of rescue equipment, including a heavy vehicle from the Norwegian army.
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated, and officials say up to 1,500 people could be moved out of the area amid landslides.
The exact cause of the accident is not yet known, but the municipality of Gjerdrum, where Ask is located, is known for having a lot of fast clay, a material that can change from solid to liquid. Experts said the clay substance combined with excessive rainfall and the typical wet weather for Norway at this time of year could have contributed to the landslide.
Norwegian authorities in 2005 warned people not to build residential buildings in the area, but houses were eventually built later in the decade.
Toril Hofshagen, a spokesman for the Norwegian Directorate for Water and Energy Resources, called the landslide unique in its destruction.
“Not since 1893 has there been a rapid landslide of this size in Norway,” Hofshagen told reporters on Saturday.