Flood warnings up after warm snap

A sudden rise in temperatures all over Norway led to a warm and mostly sunny holiday weekend, but also set off flooding and fears of more calamity, especially in the southeast. Snow in the mountains is melting much too quickly for rivers and creeks to handle the runoff. State meteorologists were predicting heavy rain this [...]

Bergensbanen running again

The popular train line between Bergen and Oslo reopened on Monday after its tracks were blocked by an earthslide in the mountains between Finse and Haugastol. The slide caused major delays at the busy end of a holiday weekend. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that the slide itself wasn’t big, but it tore down the train’s [...]

Two found dead after bridge collapse

Emergency crews worked into the night in the hopes of rescuing the occupants of a vehicle found under the rubble of a collapsed bridge in Trondheim Wednesday afternoon. They eventually were able to extract the driver of the car, who was dead, and later also found the body of one of the bridge’s construction workers. [...]

Bridge collapses in Trondheim

At least one person was missing and several injured after a bridge under construction collapsed on the outskirts of Trondheim Wednesday afternoon. Emergency crews were still scrambling to reach a car trapped under the rubble. Anders Bang Danielsen of the Trondheim police confirmed that at least six persons were injured when the unfinished bridge collapsed [...]

Gas leak forced refinery evacuation

More than 300 people were evacuated on Tuesday from Norway’s biggest oil refinery at Mongstad on the west coast, after Statoil officials discovered a gas leak. The leak was quickly stopped and operations were back to normal by 3pm. The leak was discovered around 12:45pm and a Statoil spokesman said that “any leak of gas [...]

SAS’ clipped wing delayed hundreds

A minor collision caused by an Oslo-bound Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight at the Newark airport serving New York has created more unwelcome problems for the struggling carrier. Not only did it disrupt travel plans for hundreds of passengers both in Norway and the US, it raises safety issues at a time when SAS already is [...]

Boulder kills teenager in freak roadway accident

A 15-year-old girl who was riding in a car in Norway’s mountainous county of Sogn og Fjordane was killed Friday when a huge boulder suddenly broke loose from the steep mountainside and crashed down on the car. The driver of the car, a BMW, escaped with only minor injuries. Police said the dramatic, freak accident [...]

Food hall reopening after gas leak

Food vendors and restaurant operators at one of Oslo’s most popular new meeting places, Mathallen, were in the process of getting back to business on Wednesday, after firefighters and a large crew of investigators finally found the source of a gas leak at the site and stopped it. The gas leak, which sickened four security [...]

Accident led to new oil discovery

The controversial near-catastrophe that hit Statoil’s Gullfaks oil field three years ago has resulted in a new discovery at the site that sent Statoil’s stock up sharply late last week. Statoil officials think the new find may yield between 40 million and 150 million barrels of oil. Statoil announced the paradoxical discovery on Friday, noting [...]

Gas leak shut food hall

Oslo’s highly popular new food hall known as Mathallen remained closed on Monday while police and military experts investigated a poisonous and mysterious gas leak that sent four people to the hospital over the weekend. Firefighters confirmed that gas was still leaking on Monday and it was unclear when Mathallen at Vulkan in Oslo’s Grünerløkka [...]

Skiers shot polar bear on Svalbard

Two skiers with dogs said they felt forced to shoot a polar bear on Svalbard Thursday evening when it ran towards them while they were out trekking over a wide-open stretch of snow and ice. They viewed it as an attack, and shot the bear at close range. The shooting occurred at Isbukta, on the [...]

Major power cut hit western Norway

More than 100,000 residents of western Norway were without electricity for several hours on Thursday evening, because of an error in a transformer station at Ørskog. The power cut hit customers of power companies Tussa and Tafjord Kraft. They serve customers throughout the area known as Sunnmøre, including Ålesund, Volda, Østra, Ulstein, Herøy and many [...]

Avalanche and rockslide danger rises

Geologists were putting out new warnings of avalanches and rockslides in mountainous areas this week, as the spring thaw creates more hazards. Nine persons were caught in an avalanche in Hemsedal on Thursday, while a key highway outside Bergen was deemed highly dangerous. The steep mountains bordering the stretch of the E16 highway between Dale [...]

Woman admits to arson in Bergen, ‘wanted people to die’

A court in Bergen on Norway’s west coast ordered that a 45-year-old woman who’s admitted setting a series of fires be held in custody for at least the next four weeks, while police continue their investigation. “She has expressed that she wanted people to die,” police lawyer Kari Trones told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). The woman [...]

Survivors hail new willingness to reexamine ‘Scandinavian Star’ fire

Survivors of the deadly fire on board the passenger- and car ferry Scandinavian Star 23 years ago are relieved that the Oslo Police now agree they should launch a new investigation into who was responsible. It’s already been ruled a case of arson, but the survivors and victims’ families have been plagued for years by unanswered [...]

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