LANDSLIDE HORROR
21 missing after ‘disaster’ landslide hits Norwegian town as cops receive desperate calls from people trapped in rubble
TWENTY-ONE people were reported missing in Norway after a huge landslide smashed into a village in the early hours of this morning.
Several houses were swept away in the village of Ask during the huge rockfall, which was suddenly unleashed on people while they slept.
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At least eight buildings and structures in the town — home to 5,000 people, — have reportedly collapsed.
Police are now desperately searching for survivors who are under tonnes of clay and rock amid sub-zero temperatures. Twenty-one residents are feared to be missing.
Rescuers are using heat-seeking cameras in a race against time to save the trapped villagers.
Some of those beneath the 984ft by 2,300ft landslip called for help on their mobile phones, according to rescue operations manager Roger Petersen.
He told broadcaster : "Police are designating this as a disaster.
"We have received messages from desperate people who have called the police emergency phone and said that the whole house is in motion and that they are under roof tiles and insulation also further."
We have received messages from desperate people who have called the police emergency phone and said that the whole house is in motion
Rescue operations manager Roger Petersen
In the meantime, 700 residents have been evacutated, with more being told to leave their homes — amid fears of a further catastrophic landslide.
Some 40 ambulances, volunteers from the Red Cross, and the army have been dispatched to the disaster site, which is 15 miles from the capital Oslo.
Norwegian police confirmed several homes have been taken by the landslide.
They said: "Emergency services, with assistance from the Norwegian civil defence and the military, are in the process of evacuating."
Norwegian media said nine were injured, though none were in critical condition.
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Mayor Anders Østensen said: "We must know if everyone has been evacuated.
"We must ensure that they have been taken care of. We have received many, and there is a big difference in how affected they are.
"Some were rescued by helicopter, others were notified at their doorstep.
"We are considering whether we need to expand the area that needs to be evacuated."
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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 the area of Gjerdrum.
"My thoughts go to everyone affected by the landslide."
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The area where Ask is located is known for having a lot of so-called quick clay, a form of clay that can change from solid to liquid form.
There have been previous landslides reported in the area.
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