The man who is missing after the large landslide on E6 in Norway on Saturday was working with monitoring of ground conditions when the landslide occurred, reports the newspaper Aftenposten with reference to Norwegian police. The man had been hired by the Norwegian railway authority Bane Nor and worked as a geotechnical consultant.
The search for the man, who is a Danish citizen, was resumed on Sunday, but he is presumed to have perished in the landslide.
Using drones
In addition to the Swedish search dog, the rescue service will use drones to search along the edge of the landslide. A geologist has made a risk assessment that shows there have been no major movements in the landslide masses during the night.
The landslide cut off E6 and the adjacent railway by Lake Nesvatnet, six miles northeast of Trondheim.
The railway was closed for maintenance and work was underway at the site at Nesvatnet when the landslide occurred. The maintenance included stabilization measures, which were initiated before the summer.
It has been confirmed that the landslide area has quick clay and experts warn that the landslide can grow in the coming days, which has led to the evacuation of several homes in the area.
No cause determined
Quick clay is a special type of clay that can lose its stability if it is exposed to vibrations, rain or increased load.
What actually triggered the landslide is not determined, nor whether it had anything to do with Bane Nor's maintenance work at the site.
It's too early to say anything about the cause, now thorough investigations will be done and it will take time to come to a conclusion, says Svein Helgetun, to Aftenposten.
The landslide means that E6 and the railway in the area will not be able to be used for a long time to come.
