The alarm came shortly after 5 pm on Thursday. Ten conscripted jäger soldiers who were supposed to have returned after an exercise much earlier in the day had not yet been heard from.
Five of them were found at around 8 pm – three came to the agreed meeting place and two were found by the rescue helicopter that was deployed in the search. The five are doing well, according to the police.
Police, rescue services, the military, and the Red Cross are participating in the search, which is being carried out, among other things, with drones, dogs, and a helicopter.
We have pressed the big red button considering the resources we have called out, said the police's incident leader Jørgen Haukland Hansen to NRK during the early evening.
When the clock approached 11 pm, the remaining five soldiers were still not found. The exercise they participated in – or think they are still out on – was about keeping hidden and making their way to a specific meeting place. Therefore, one theory is that they are staying away from the rescue personnel.
But we cannot rule out that something has happened, says incident leader Martin Knutsen to NRK.
The area the soldiers are in is hilly mountain terrain with both forest and bogs.
Now it has become dark, so the search has become more demanding, but we are out in the area with several resources, says Knutsen.
The military states that it is not the first time soldiers "disappear" during a period, but that it has been a long time since the military was forced to call in the police, which was done on Thursday after twelve hours of searching.
According to NRK, it is around nine degrees and "fine autumn weather" in the area.
