A woman in her 50s from Vestland and a man in his 30s from Nordland lost their lives in an avalanche on Jan Mayen on Saturday. Both were civilian employees in the Armed Forces.
The emergency services received a message from the Main Rescue Center for Northern Norway at 4:50 PM on Saturday that an avalanche occurred in Borgdalen on the island’s west side.
The message reached the rescue services three hours after the landslide took place.
“Three employees at the Armed Forces station on Jan Mayen were on a leisure trip when they were hit by an avalanche, some distance from the station. The landslide happened around 1:50 PM on Saturday. One of the three managed to get out of the avalanche and returned to the station,” communications manager Knut Helge Grandhagen said.
Found after three and a half hours
Rescue crews from the Armed Forces base at Jan Mayen were immediately sent out to search, and shortly after they arrived, around 5:20 PM, the two missing people were found.
The two were confirmed dead at 7:00 PM. The person who managed to get out of the avalanche is slightly injured, according to Grandhagen.
Operation manager Remi Johansen in the Nordland Police District says it has not been clarified when the two dead people can be flown to the mainland.
The Armed Forces have personnel on Jan Mayen all year round, and the crew during the winter consists of 18 people.
The crews are replaced every six months.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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