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WORLD NEWS Monday 4 January 2021
3rd body found after landslide in Norway; 7 still missing
By JARI TANNER to hold the weight of res-
Associated Press cue equipment, including
HELSINKI (AP) — Rescue a heavy vehicle from the
teams searching for survi- Norwegian military.
vors four days after a land- Over 1,000 people have
slide carried away homes been evacuated, and of-
in a Norwegian village ficials said up to 1,500 peo-
found no signs of life Satur- ple may be moved from
day amid the ruined build- the area amid fears of fur-
ings and debris. ther landslides.
Three bodies have been re- The exact cause of the ac-
covered but searchers are cident is not yet known but
still looking for seven more the Gjerdrum municipal-
people believed to be ity, where Ask is located, is
missing. The landslide in the known for having a lot of
village of Ask is the worst in quick clay, a material that
modern Norwegian history can change from solid to
and has shocked citizens in liquid form. Experts said the
the Nordic nation. substance of the clay com-
Search teams patrolled bined with excessive pre-
with dogs as helicopters cipitation and the damp
and drones with heat-de- weather typical for Norway
tecting cameras flew amid at this time of year may
harsh winter conditions Rescue crews work in the area at Ask in Gjerdrum, Saturday Jan. 2, 2021, after a massive landslide have contributed to the
over the ravaged hillside in smashed into a residential area near the Norwegian capital on Wednesday. landslide.
Ask, a village of 5,000 peo- Associated Press Norwegian authorities in
ple 25 kilometers (16 miles) news conference. in his New Year’s speech Photos and videos showed 2005 warned people not to
northeast of Oslo. By late Saturday, a second that the royal family had buildings hanging on the construct residential build-
Norwegian police pledged and third body had been been deeply moved by the edge of the ravine, which ings in the area, but houses
not to scale down the found after a first one was tragedy. grew to be 700 meters were eventually built there
search even though a res- discovered on Friday. Only Norwegian police have (2,300 feet) long and 300 later in the decade.
cue team from neighbor- a Dalmatian dog has been published the names and meters (1,000 feet) wide. Spokeswoman Toril Hofsha-
ing Sweden has already rescued alive from the ruins birth years of the 10 people At least nine buildings with gen from the Norwegian
returned home. so far. initially reported missing, in- over 30 apartments were Water Resources and En-
Local police chief Ida Mel- King Harald V, Queen Sonja cluding a 2-year-old child. destroyed. ergy Directorate called the
bo Oeystese said it may still and Crown Prince Haakon Officials haven’t yet iden- The rescue operation is landslide unique in its de-
be possible to find survivors plan to visit the disaster tified the three recovered being hampered by the struction.
in air pockets inside the de- area on Sunday to pay bodies. limited number of daylight “Not since 1893 has there
stroyed buildings. their respects to the victims The landslide early hours in Norway at this time been a quick clay landslide
“Medically, you can survive and to meet with residents Wednesday cut across a of year and fears of further of this dimension in Nor-
for several days if you have and rescue workers. The road through Ask, leaving erosion. The ground is frag- way,” Hofshagen told the
air,” she told reporters at a 83-year-old monarch said a deep, crater-like ravine. ile at the site and unable media on Saturday.q
Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan resume talks over disputed dam
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt, Ethio- at the final stage of the called by South Africa, ar-
pia and Sudan resumed project. guing that the current ap-
their years-long negotia- The foreign and irrigation proach to reaching a tri-
tions Sunday over the con- ministers of the three Nile partite agreement on the
troversial dam Ethiopia is Valley countries met online filling and operation of Ethi-
building on the Blue Nile, Sunday, said Ahmed Hafez, opia’s dam had not yield-
officials said. the spokesman of Egypt’s ed results.
The resumption came six Foreign Ministry. Sudanese Irrigation Minister
weeks after Khartoum boy- Sudan also confirmed the Yasser Abbas said at the
cotted talks in November, meeting. time that the AU should do
urging the African Union Ethiopia’s Water and En- more to “facilitate the ne-
to play a greater role in ergy Minister Seleshi Bekele gotiation and bridge the
reaching a deal over the said earlier the meeting gap between the three
disputed Grand Ethiopia was called by South Africa, parties.”
Renaissance Dam. the current head of the Af- Africa’s largest hydroelec-
The negotiations have cen- rican Union, and that U.S. tric dam has caused se- BANDA In this June 28, 2013 file photo, construction work takes
tered on the filling and op- observers and AU experts vere tensions between the place, at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near
eration of the giant dam. would attend. three nations. Assosa, Ethiopia.
Key questions remain about Sudan’s Irrigation Minis- Egypt has called it an ex- Associated Press
how much water Ethiopia try said the three counties istential threat and worries and its more than 100 mil- pull millions of people out
will release downstream if a would hold separate talks that it will reduce the coun- lion people. About 85% of of poverty. Sudan, in the
multi-year drought occurs with the AU experts and try’s share of Nile waters. the river’s flow originates middle, worries about the
and how the three coun- observers before a three- The Arab’s world most pop- from Ethiopia. effects on its own dams,
tries will resolve any future party meeting on Jan. 10. ulous country relies almost Ethiopia says the $4.6 bil- although it stands to ben-
disputes. Ethiopia has re- In November, Sudan did entirely on the Nile to sup- lion dam will be an engine efit from access to cheap
jected binding arbitration not attend a round of talks ply water for agriculture of development that will electricity.q