Avalanche warnings were up all over Norway during the long Easter weekend, but that didn’t stop everyone from heading out on mountain ski trips. Four skiers who were part of a group got caught in an avalanche just north of the popular skiing destination of Hemsedal on Monday, and two were killed.
Police reported that a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s were declared dead at the scene after they’d been dug out of the masses of snow. Two others survived.
Warnings had been posted of “considerable” avalanche danger in the area, and skiers were advised to especially avoid areas with snowdrifts at the end of an extremely stormy weekend. The warning level, second only to Norway’s most severe avalanche warning, took into account that avalanches can come naturally, in addition to those set off by human activity in the area.
The deadly avalanche on Monday occurred in an area with few people and little traffic. Newspaper Aftenposten reported that search and rescue units were quickly dispatched including a police helicopter, paramedics and a special voluntary rescue service using dogs trained to search for avalanche victims. The last of the two bodies was recovered around an hour after the avalanche.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
