A large landslide destroyed houses overnight in a Norwegian village near the capital Oslo, leaving 12 people unidentified and 10 injured, police and local media reported on Wednesday. Video footage of the scene showed that an entire slope 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 as emergency services evacuated the injured and tried to secure those houses that were still standing. Some houses had been faltering on the edge of the crater left by the slide, with some falling over the edge as the day went on.
Fredrik Hagen / NTB / via REUTERS
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who traveled to the village of some 1,000 people on Wednesday, described the landslide as “one of the largest” the country had ever seen.
“It’s a dramatic experience to be here,” Solberg told reporters, expressing special concern for those still missing.
“The situation is so unstable with the mud that it is still not possible to do anything other than helicopter rescues,” he added.
NTB SCANPIX via Reuters
Norwegian media said 700 people had been evacuated from their homes and the municipality warned that up to 1,500 could have to leave the region for security reasons.
In the early evening, police reported that there were still 12 unidentified people.
“We don’t know if these people are in the landslide area, if they are out on vacation or otherwise unable to contact police,” the force said in a statement.
Police said 10 people were injured, and one was taken to Oslo with serious injuries.
“Police designate this as a disaster,” Chief of Operations Roger Pettersen told NRK.
He got emergency calls from people saying his whole house was moving, he said.
“There are dramatic reports and the situation is serious,” Pettersen said.
According to the Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE), what happened was a so-called “fast clay slide” of approximately 328 to 766 yards.
“This is the biggest landslide in recent times in Norway, given the number of houses involved and the number of evacuees,” NVE spokeswoman Laila Hoivik told AFP.
Fast clay is a type of clay found in Norway and Sweden that can collapse and become fluid when it is protruding.
“The area has been studied previously and is known to contain fast clay. The possibility of large similar slides in the area is low at the moment,” Hoivik said.
The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that Sweden was sending specially trained personnel to assist in the rescue effort.
“We will help search for missing people and secure buildings,” operations leader Stefan Karlsson of Gothenburg’s emergency services told the newspaper.
The King of Norway, Harald, said in a statement that the accident “made a deep impression on him”.
“My thoughts are on all those affected, the injured, those who have lost their homes and are now living in fear and uncertainty of the extent of the disaster,” he said.