Rescuers at the site of the landslide in Ask, Norway, on 2 January.
Photographer: Tor Erik Schroeder / NTB / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Tor Erik Schroeder / NTB / AFP / Getty Images
The Norwegian rescue team has already recovered four bodies in a village not far from the country’s capital, hit by a landslide on Wednesday, with 6 people still missing.
The latest three discoveries were made in the same area, in a building about 100 meters from the site, Knut Hammer, head of the police operation, told reporters on Saturday night. Rescuers are still looking for survivors in difficult conditions.
The rapid clay landslide happened about 20 kilometers north of Oslo and follows a record rainy month. About 1,000 people were evacuated from the area after the landslide devastated large parts of the village.
These landslides are known to occur in Norway and neighboring Sweden, when the rapid clay common to some parts of Scandinavia fills with rainwater and becomes liquid, according to the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. Several houses were taken to the sea due to a similar landslide in June. No one was injured in that event.
(Updates with research details in the second paragraph)