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Helsinki – Rescue crews in a village in Norway were still searching for survivors on Saturday, four days after a landslide buried several houses.
So far two bodies have been recovered, but teams are looking for eight more people who remain missing.
Ground search crews are aided by helicopters and drones with heat detection cameras amid harsh winter conditions on the devastated slope in the village of Ask, about 16 miles northeast of Oslo.
Police pledged not to delay the search even though a rescue team from neighboring Sweden had already returned home.
Local police chief Anada Melbo Oeystese said it is still possible to find survivors in the airbags formed inside the destroyed buildings.
“Medically, you can survive for several days if you have air,” he told reporters at a news conference.
On Saturday afternoon a second body was found in the area; the first was found on Friday. A Dalmatian dog was rescued alive.
The landslide is the worst in modern Norwegian history and has shocked the citizens of the Nordic nation.
On Friday night, police released the names and years of birth of the 10 people initially reported missing. They include a 2-year-old child. Authorities have not yet identified the two recovered bodies.
The landslide crossed a road that crossed Ask, home to about 5,000 people, leaving a deep, crater-like ravine through which cars could not pass.
Photos and video footage showed dramatic scenes of buildings hanging loose on the edge of the ravine.
At least nine buildings with more than 30 apartments were destroyed.
The rescue operation was hampered by the limited number of hours of light, fears of further erosion of the land and the fragile soil of the site, which is unlikely to bear the weight of the rescue team. , including an army heavy vehicle.
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated and authorities said up to 1,500 people could be relocated from the area for fear of more landslides.