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NORWAY-LANDSLIDE
Ten still missing after Norway mudslide buries homes
OSLO, Dec 31, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Rescue workers were still searching on
Thursday for survivors from a landslide that destroyed homes in a Norwegian
village close to Oslo leaving 10 people unaccounted for, including two
children, and 10 injured.
Work continued overnight after a whole hillside collapsed in Ask, 25
kilometres (15 miles) northeast of the capital.
Homes were buried under mud and some houses were left teetering on the
edge of a crater caused by the slide, with several falling over the edge as
the day went on.
“It is important for me to stress that we are looking for survivors,”
chief of operations Roger Pettersen told reporters.
“Now there’s daylight and that will help us in our work with better
visibility,” he said.
Police said one of the 10 people hurt had been seriously injured and was
transferred to Oslo for treatment.
One-fifth of Ask’s 5,000 population have been evacuated.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg visited the village on Wednesday and described
the landslide as “one of the largest” the country had seen.
The authorities issued an appeal to people not to set off fireworks for
New Year’s Eve which could hinder the use of helicopters and drones equipped
with thermal cameras.
The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate said the disaster was
a “quick clay slide” of approximately 300 by 700 metres (yards).
Quick clay is a sort of clay found in Norway and Sweden that can collapse
and turn to fluid when overstressed.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1728 hrs