OSLO – Norwegian rescue teams sent drones and dogs to negotiate unstable clay soil in search of 10 people still missing on Thursday after a landslide in southern Norway destroyed more than a dozen buildings the day before.
Another 10 people were injured, one of them in critical condition after the landslide in the residential area in the municipality of Gjerdrum, about 30 km (19 miles) north of the capital, Oslo.
Conditions remained challenging, with the clay soil still too unstable for emergency workers to walk and temperatures recording -1 Celsius (30F) at 0600 GMT.
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The edges of the crater continued to separate, officials said, asking people not to approach the area. About 1,000 people have already been evacuated.
“We are still looking for survivors,” Roger Pettersen, chief of the police operation at the scene, told reporters, adding that children and adults are missing.
During the night, police used drones with heat-seeking equipment to search for survivors in the rubble. Helicopters attempted to bring down military and police officers with search and rescue dogs in some structures considered stable enough to support themselves.
A Dalmatian dog was rescued during the night.
On Thursday, Pettersen asked locals not to send fireworks to celebrate New Year’s Eve, so as not to interfere with helicopters and drones.
Separately, questions were being asked about why construction was permitted in the area.
TV2 said a 2005 geological survey for city officials classified the area as high risk of landslides. But new houses were built three years after the report was published.
In a rare public statement, King Harald of Norway said the landslide left a deep impression.
“My thoughts are with all those who have been affected, injured or lost their homes, and those who now live in fear and uncertainty about the full extent of the catastrophe,” said the 83-year-old monarch in a statement released by the Royal Palace.