OSLO, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rescue workers have uncovered a seventh body from a landslide that buried homes in a village near Norway’s capital, police said, with a two-year-old girl and her father among the dead.
The tragedy occurred early on Wednesday when houses were destroyed and shifted hundreds of metres under a torrent of mud in the village of Ask, 25 kilometres northeast of Oslo.
Police spokesman Bjorn Christian Willersrud told journalists they hoped to find more survivors in the landslide zone. “It is still a rescue operation until we decide otherwise,” he said.
Police said the latest body was found near where two others had been recovered, but gave no further details. The teams, backed up by sniffer dogs, helicopters and drones, have now found three bodies on Sunday, one on Saturday and three on Friday.
Local residents left candles near the site of the tragedy.
Five of the recovered victims have been identified, including a woman in her fifties and her 29-year-old son, and a 40-year-old man and his two-year-old daughter.
The first victim to be recovered, on Jan 1, was a 31-year-old man.
Ten people were also injured in the landslide, including one seriously who was transferred to Oslo for treatment.
About 1,000 people of the town’s population of 5,000 have been evacuated, because of fears for the safety of their homes as the land continues to move. — NNN-AGENCIES
