Avalanche crashes into town on Norway’s Svalbard

Several people were injured and several others missing on Saturday after an avalanche buried about 10 houses on the Svalbard archipelago in the heart of the Norwegian Arctic, local officials said.

One person has been confirmed head and several people have been hospitalized, with their injuries ranging from minor to critical.

About 100 volunteers and search-and-rescue workers rushed to the…

During winter the remote archipelago, which lies midway between continental Norway and the North Pole, plunges into darkness. Rescue operations had to be carried out in the dark as Svalbard does not get direct sunlight from November to mid-February, reported the BBC.

“We’re choosing to evacuate inhabitants until we familiarise ourselves with the situation [there] as long as we don’t feel confident about a new avalanche occurring”, Kjetil Brattlien, snow slide expert at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) told NRK.

Three children were in a serious condition and five adults were slightly injured by the avalanche, hospital spokeswoman Marit Einejord told the Associated Press.

It was the worst storm in 30 years, with winds up to 60mph.

A 42-year-old teacher was pronounced dead on Saturday.

A team of doctors was planning to set out from the Norwegian city of Tromso for Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s main town.

The avalanche hit less than a day after a storm ripped off the roof from the local school, throwing it onto a soccer field. The airport in Longyearbyen was closed on Friday but was expected to reopen later on Saturday.

Svalbard sits more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of the mainland, and is known for its stunning views of snow-covered mountains, fjords and glaciers.