Eight persons were evacuated during the night when a large block of rock crashed down a steep mountainside along the Stongfjord at Askvoll in western Norway. Local residents were awakened during the night by the thundering slide.
“We were sleeping and woke up because of all the noise,” one resident told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). The first slide came around 3am and another at 4am, with the rock landing just 50 meters from the local county road through the area, Fylkesvei 609.
“It looks terrible, with big gashes in the mountainside,” said one witness, Arild Gjervik, after some even earlier slides Tuesday evening. He said those living below the slide were likely to be scared by the sight on Wednesday.
Engineers and geologists were on the scene Wednesday to examine the damage and potential for more slides in the area south of Florø and west of Førde in the county of Sogn og Fjordane. It was unclear when evacuated residents could move home.
For photos, go to NRK’s coverage here (external link).
Views and News staff
