When the 51-year-old father of three died during the filming of TV4's adventure program "Berget", TV4 said it was due to a sudden illness. In the program, 15 participants were to compete and climb the Norwegian mountain Stetind. Before participating, health tests were carried out at a private healthcare company.
The company informed that the man had been flagged by doctors because his blood pressure was 210/110 – a condition that can be directly life-threatening – and the man was advised to seek medical attention. Nevertheless, he was allowed to participate in “The Mountain” and the investigation shows that the man complained of chest pains on the first day and was unable to carry his own pack.
In a previously unknown letter, nine employees are now raising the alarm about serious safety deficiencies during filming. Among other things, a defibrillator was missing and the helicopter that was on site was unable to pick up the unconscious man until after 30 minutes, SVT's review shows.
The man's relatives participate in SVT's program about the death and are critical of his being allowed to participate.
TV4's channel manager Fredrik Arefalk admits a "communication failure" regarding the health check, but believes that the security team did a good job.
