The landslide in Norway buries houses in the mud; 12 people still missing

A major landslide destroyed houses overnight in a village in Norway near the capital Oslo, leaving 12 people missing and 10 injured, police and local media said on Wednesday. The video of the scene showed that an entire slope collapsed in Ask, in the municipality of Gjerdrum, 24 kilometers northeast of the capital. Houses were left crushed and buried in the dark mud.

Snow fell in the morning, as emergency services evacuated the wounded and tried to protect the houses that were still standing. Some houses were left swinging at the edge of the crater left behind by the landslide, with some falling over the edge as the day progressed.

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who traveled to the village of about 1,000 people on Wednesday, described the landslide as “one of the largest” the country has ever seen.

“It is a dramatic experience to be here,” Solberg told reporters, expressing special concern for those who are still missing.

“The situation is still so unstable with the mud that nothing can be done but helicopter rescues,” he added.

Norwegian media said 700 people had been evacuated from their homes, and the municipality warned that up to 1,500 might need to leave the region for security reasons.

Early in the evening, the police reported that 12 people were still missing.

“We do not know whether these people are in the landslide area, whether they are on vacation or otherwise unable to contact the police,” the force said in a statement.

Police said 10 people were injured, one of whom was transferred to Oslo with serious injuries.

“The police are classing this as a disaster,” Chief Operating Officer Roger Pettersen told NRK.

Emergency calls came from people saying the whole house was moving, he said.

“There are dramatic reports and the situation is serious,” said Pettersen.

According to the Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE), what happened was a so-called “rapid clay slide” of approximately 328 to 766 yards.

“This is the biggest landslide in recent times in Norway, considering the number of houses involved and the number of homeless,” NVE spokeswoman Laila Hoivik told AFP.

Fast clay is a type of clay found in Norway and Sweden that can collapse and turn into fluid when under stress.

“The area was previously researched and is known to contain fast clay. The possibility of similar large landslides in the area is low at the moment,” said Hoivik.

Swedish daily Aftonbladet reported that Sweden was sending specially trained personnel to assist in the rescue effort.

“We will help in the search for missing persons and in the security of buildings,” operations leader Stefan Karlsson, from Gothenburg’s emergency services, told the newspaper.

Norwegian king Harald said in a statement that the accident “left a deep impression” on him.

“My thoughts are with all those affected, the injured, those who have lost their homes and now live in fear and uncertainty about the full extent of the disaster,” he said.