Rescue operation after skiers on Svalbard – news Troms and Finnmark

Crews from the Red Cross and the Governor have worked for many hours to retrieve the man, who is on the Rabot glacier (482 m above sea level) in Svalbard. Due to snowy weather and poor visibility, the crews have had to interrupt the rescue operation once. According to Svalbardposten, they have been working on a new attempt since this afternoon. Now one of the two patrols from the ongoing search has also turned around due to the weather. This is reported by the head of the civil service, Bjørn Inge Knutsen, to news. – They can meander for a few metres, then they have to stop. The weather is very variable. Whether he will be brought out tonight or not, I dare not say anything about. We have to think about their safety (the rescuers, journ.anm.) too, otherwise there will be chaos. The Rabot glacier is 482 meters above sea level. To get there along the hill, you first have to go through Sassendalen. According to the weather service Yr, it is minus 14 degrees at the site and strong winds of 23 meters per second, with gusts of up to 30. The experienced temperature is -30 degrees. Both helicopters and patrols on the ground have tried to get to the skier. The weather is still a challenge with strong winds and so-called “whiteout” in the area. Is in a tent According to Svalbardposten, the emergency message came in on Friday morning. The man, who is a foreign tourist, will be in his own tent. Knutsen says that they are in contact with the skier every hour. – He is soaked and cold. But given the conditions, you can probably say that he is doing pretty well. – It’s probably weather that he wasn’t prepared for, he says. It was on Friday morning that the skier contacted the main rescue center and asked for assistance to get back to civilization. He must have been on a ski trip over a couple of days. According to the weather forecast, conditions should improve towards Saturday morning. – But we hope that he can be brought out now, without us being able to promise anything, says Knutsen. It was first reported that the man was in Sassendalen, which lies below the glacier. From Longyearbyen it is roughly 60 kilometers to Rabotbreen. From the outermost point in Sassendalen, it is just under 40 kilometres.



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