Landslide - Europe - Norway

More than 300 Norwegians living in large apartement buildings in central Oslo were still waiting on Monday to hear when or even whether they can return home. A landslide from a cliff between two residential complexes gave way late Sunday afternoon and still hadn’t stabilized nearly a day later.Police reported “new movements” Monday morning in the rocky hill just east of Carl Berners Plass in Oslo. Large boulders from the cliff separating high-rise residential units crashed down right behind a student housing complex where 211 people lived. Another relatively new residential complex on the hill behind them was also evacuated, for fear it could collapse. There were no injuries, however, nor any damage to the buildings.There had been some signs of unstable ground in the area, and security nets had been set up on the hill to contain any rocks that might roll down and hit the student housing complex. State broadcaster NRK reported that a geologist had also warned of slide danger as early as 2021 and both city planning officials and the housing compex’s administration had made efforts to better secure the area, with annual monitoring.As helicopters whirred overhead and police mounted a major emergency operation, most residents remained calm. “We’re fine,” Ove Arthur Brandt, leader of the residents’ association in the apartment complex, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “There are many crises around the world and the crisis we experienced yesterday was to be moved to a nice hotel in Oslo, where we were served some supper last night and a good breakfast this morning.”