Norway: Bus carrying several tourists crashes, 3 killed
December 27, 2024
A bus in northern Norway has crashed in poor weather, ending up partially submerged in a frozen lake. Police said that three people were killed and four injured, with weather conditions complicating the rescue.
The bus crashed in an area popular with tourists chasing winter views of the Northern Lights in adverse weather, even for the region and time of yearImage: Marius Birkeland/AP Photo/picture alliance
Advertisement
A bus crashed in poor weather conditions in northern Norway on Thursday, leading to three deaths and four serious injuries, police said.
"Many of the passengers on the bus were foreign nationals," police said, with 58 people in total affected by the accident.
Police said passengers from eight countries were on board: China, France, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway and South Sudan.
The crash took place near the Rafsundet strait on the E10, a major road which links the Lofoten archipelago, a popular tourist spot to observe the aurora borealis or "Northern Lights" in winter, to Norway's mainland.
Poor weather hampers rescue, missing data makes contacting relatives difficult
Images from the scene showed the bus had slid off the highway and down a slope towards a frozen lake, damaging the ice on top of it and leaving the bus partially submerged by the time rescuers tried to haul it back out.
Rescuers tried to pull the bus back out of the lake it had tumbled towards, cracking the layer ice on topImage: Marius Birkeland/AP Photo/picture alliance
"The weather conditions in the region are bad, complicating rescue operations," local police said in a statement. Strong winds are also accompanying the common heavy snows, according to the authorities.
Some of the evacuated passengers were taken to a local school, while three more seriously injured people were flown to a nearby hospital by helicopter.
"The priority now is to treat the injured, and an investigation will be launched to clarify what transpired," Norwegian news agency NTB cited Nordland police officer Bent Are Eilertsen as saying.
He also said it was proving difficult to contact relatives because of the lack of a complete list of passengers and the number of nationalities involved.
Norway's Red Cross said it was sending personnel to assist.
Northern lights deliver colorful night sky spectacle
It's been a good year so far for fans of the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis. The spectacle has been especially prominent over Canada and Finland.
Image: All About Lapland/Alexander Kuznetsov/Handout/REUTERS
Colorful nights in Canada
2024 has been a good year to observe the natural phenomenon known as aurora borealis. This year, increased electromagnetic activity from the sun has repeatedly resulted in glowing veils of color in the night sky. Above the small village of Brant, in Canada's western province of Alberta, the night sky on Monday was bathed in the green, red and yellow colors of the northern lights.
Image: Todd Korol/REUTERS
Finland attracts fans and photographers
Fans of the natural spectacle tried to capture the phenomena over the Finnish part of Lapland in photographs on Monday. The Finnish Meteorological Institute provides information about upcoming "space weather," i.e. the phenomena caused by solar flares or solar winds near the Earth. This also includes the aurora borealis.
Image: All About Lapland/Alexander Kuznetsov/Handout/REUTERS
Sci-fi movie or farm?
Back in Alberta, a cinematic sight in the agricultural village of Herronton: What at first glance looks like extraterrestrial cryogenic chambers are actually lit-up grain silos seen against a greenish starry sky.
Image: Todd Korol/REUTERS
Solar winds and charged particles
Today, the origin of the auroras is well-researched. The sun's activity creates solar winds, among other things, which carry electromagnetically charged particles with them. These in turn are deflected by the Earth's magnetic field. Some particles penetrate the atmosphere and produce light when they collide with air molecules.
Image: All About Lapland/Alexander Kuznetsov/Handout/REUTERS
Divine glow
The northern and southern lights are regularly seen in the polar regions. Indigenous peoples in Lapland, Siberia and Alaska once believed that the mysterious glow in the night would bring them into contact with the gods.
Image: All About Lapland/Alexander Kuznetsov/Handout/REUTERS
Pink southern skies
This natural phenomenon also occurs in the southern polar region, where it's known as the aurora australis, or southern lights. If you want to experience the nocturnal veils of light, you usually have to be far away from artificial light sources. At Lake Ellesmere, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Christchurch in New Zealand, these auroras glowed in a magnificent pink on Tuesday.
