Hundreds evacuated after landslide in Norway

Several houses were swept away in Gjerdrum, home to 5,000 people 25 km northeast of the capital, in the early hours of Wednesday

AFP,

Dec 30 2020, 16:37 ist
updated: Dec 30 2020, 16:37 ist

A car has stopped were the road has been swept away by a landslide in the town of Ask, Gjerdrum county, some 40 km northeast of the Norwegian capital Oslo. - Several houses were taken by a landslide in the early hours of December 30, several injured were taken to hospital for treatment and yet more people are listed as missing as the rescue mission continues. Credit: AFP Photo

At least nine people were injured and up to 200 evacuated on Wednesday after a nightime landslide in a small town north of Oslo, police and local media said.

Several houses were swept away in Gjerdrum, home to 5,000 people 25 kilometres northeast of the capital, in the early hours of Wednesday.

"Several homes have been taken by the landslide. Emergency services, with assistance from the Norwegian civil defence and the military, are in the process of evacuating," Norwegian police said on Twitter.

Norwegian media said up to 200 people had been evacuated from their homes and nine injured, though none were in critical condition.

"Police are designating this as a disaster," chief of operations Roger Pettersen told broadcaster NRK.

He said emergency calls had come in from people saying their whole house was moving.

"So there are dramatic reports and the situation is serious," Pettersen said.

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg offered her sympathies in a social media post, saying, "It hurts to see how the forces of nature have ravaged Gjerdrum. My thoughts go to everyone affected by the landslide."