Winter returned with a vengeance on Tuesday to the mountains of north-central Norway called Saltfjellet. Both the main E6 highway and the rail line over the mountain were blocked after a sudden, severe snowstorm.
The railroad known as Nordlandsbanen, which runs between Trondheim and Bodø, ground to a halt after one of its passenger carriages got stuck in a snowdrift. Crews from the state railroad agency Jernbaneverket were working to dig it out Tuesday morning.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that several cars also got stuck following a collision on the E6 highway. Emergency crews said it would take at least two hours before the road could be cleared and reopened.
Two people were sent to an emergency clinic at Rognan after suffering injuries police described as “moderate” in the head-on collision. Drivers of both cars had, like others all over the country, already swapped their winter tires when the unseasonal snowstorm hit.
Around 50 passengers were on board the train and they simply had to wait, since it wasn’t possible to move them over to bus service until the highway was cleared as well.
newsinenglish.no staff
