“We are still in a rescue operation, which means we can still find survivors,” police chief Roger Pettersen told a news conference on Monday.
Seven people have died in the disaster and three people are still being reported missing, Norwegian police said.
The cold weather is working against rescue efforts, health operations manager Andre Thiller said during the conference. Nevertheless, he said, survivors may still be hidden in ‘cavities in the landslide’, and therefore authorities ‘absolutely make sure all relevant cavities have been scanned before we end the effort’.
The landslide is the worst the country has seen in recent years, in terms of ‘the number of homes involved and the number of evacuated’, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NPA) said in a statement.
This took place during the early morning hours of 30 December when the mud Ask penetrated into the Gjerdrum municipality. Footage of the scene showed the slope collapsing and buildings hanging from the edge of the crater.
According to NVE, an “avalanche pit of about 300 at 700 meters (980 to 2300 feet) caused a landslide.”
“It hurts to see how the forces of nature plagued Gjerdrum,” the country’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on social media. “My thoughts go out to everyone affected by the landslide,” he added.
The King and Queen of Norway visited the site of the landslide on Sunday.
“The terrible incident makes a deep impression on all of us,” King Harald V said during his annual New Year’s speech. “I sympathize with you who are entering the new year with sadness and uncertainty. With you who have lost your homes and who are now desperate and see no way forward.”