Two men in their 20s found dead after avalanche in Troms

Two men in their 20s have been confirmed dead in the avalanche in Lyngen in Troms on Saturday.

Both men were from Tromsø. The relatives have been notified, the police told newspaper VG.

Mayor Dan Håvard Johnsen in Lyngen told Framtid i nord that the Municipality is activating a crisis team.

“Unfortunately, we have experience with such incidents, and now we are deploying a crisis team and manning the town hall throughout the afternoon and evening,” Johnsen said on Saturday.

Hikers reported the incident

The police were notified of the landslide at 1:25 PM. Hikers reported that they observed two people getting swept away by the avalanche.

A medical helicopter from Tromsø, about 40 km west of the site, reacted to the report. At 1:57 PM, the first person was found.

“Resuscitation was initiated immediately,” Meyer added.

At 2:34 PM, the other person was also found. Unfortunately, resuscitation efforts were not successful.

Meyer noted that the two dead men were found one and a half meters under the snow.

Unstable conditions

Three rescue helicopters, five snowmobiles, and avalanche dogs have been involved in the rescue operation.

Martin Granerød at the Meteorological Institute told VG that there had been a lot of snow in the area recently.

On Saturday, around 96 centimeters of snow was observed in Tromsø, and 20 centimeters of fresh snow in Lyngen, according to Granerød.

The avalanche warning from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate has been set to “moderate” in Lyngen on Saturday, with reports of locally unstable conditions.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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