Thursday. 28.03.2024

Search and rescue teams in Norway on Monday continued efforts to find three missing people in a huge landslide that has claimed seven deaths.

"It is still a rescue operation," Roger Pettersen, head of the police operation, told reporters, after the incident that hit early on 30 December.

Despite the cold, the teams still believed there could be survivors, he added.

The landslide in the community of Ask, about 40 kilometres north-east of Oslo, left another 10 people injured and destroyed nine houses. About 1,000 people have been evacuated to safety.

Halvard Stave, medical leader for the health team, said there was a chance of survival in air pockets inside sections of collapsed buildings and these potential "pockets had to be investigated before calling off the search phase," news agency NTB reported.

Sniffer dogs

The teams were aided by specially trained sniffer dogs.

The seven victims include a 2-year-old girl and her 40-year-old father.

Rescue work had earlier been hampered by the conditions at the site of the landslide and by the wintry weather.

Rescue teams search for three still missing after landslide in Norway