LATEST: The road traffic center reports that the E16 is open again. The messages from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and the emergency services have reached Vestland on Wednesday afternoon. In total, there have been reports of six different landslides and weather problems on the roads: Aurland: E16 in Gudvangen Aurland: Gudvangen-Bakka, at the Gudvangen ferry quay Aurland: The road to Undredal Aurland: The road to Skjerdal Øvre Årdal: A landslide has crossed a footpath in Tronteigen In addition, the river has overflowed its banks in Bordalsvegen in Voss. It was most dramatic at the ferry quay in Gudvangen. Here there are stones, twigs and slush all over the road after the landslide. Jon Olav Stedje in Aurland port authority had a person at work on the ferry quay when the collapse occurred. – He was sitting in the car and was actually on his way into the slide. But he managed to put the car in reverse and get away, Stedje tells news. Jan Øyvind Andersen narrowly escaped the collapse. It was dramatic, he says. – He saw the rage in the white of the eye. It was Jan Øyvind Andersen who was on his way to the ferry dock for the port authorities. – The slide was half a meter in front of me. I had to pull myself into reverse, he says. While news is talking to Andersen, he can hear the sound of several landslides in the area, and rumbling on the mountain sides. According to him, the experience has been intense. – I have never been so close to a landslide before, he says. These are Jan Øyvind’s own photos that he took on the ferry quay after getting to safety. Andersen describes that he was only one meter from the landslide and the rock masses. While news was talking to Andersen, he heard several sounds of landslides on the mountainside at Gudvangen. Several tourist boats and buses have to turn around and cannot get to the popular tourist attractions in the area due to landslides and closed roads. There are large masses of rock and water left on the ferry quay after the landslide. Rock fall on the E16 In addition to the landslide at the ferry quay, a large rock has fallen into Nærøydalen just after the Gudvanga tunnel. No damage to persons or vehicles has been reported. But the road leads to big queues on the E16. The stone, which is the size of a car, is in the middle of the road. According to the fire service, there must be two different landslide incidents. Anders Kjeldsen was at work driving a semi-trailer on the E16 when the large rock came crashing down the mountainside. – I knew there was a risk of race, so I followed closely. Suddenly I saw a rustling in the forest above me, and then a huge stone came crashing into the road, he says. Kjeldsen says that he tried to brake, but had to drive around the stone to avoid it. – I was very shaken. I didn’t realize it would come so close. After the disgusting experience, he and another motorist drove on to get to safety, before stopping and blocking the road for other motorists. Not far away, on the E16, this stone blocks the roadway. There are large queues in both directions on the E16 after the landslide. Photo: Aurland fire service Danger of new landslides – I heard the rumbling, and saw that the traffic came to a complete stop. Then I took the scooter and sped down to see what had happened, says Lene Hagen at Gudvangen Camping. She says that the rock has fallen between the campsite and the nearest grocery store. – It was raining extremely hard, so I wasn’t surprised that it rained, she says. Jan Inge Magnussen is a firefighter in Aurland and at work in the area. He says that they have evacuated everyone who was in the area when the landslide occurred. – There were a lot of people who were going to take a boat from the ferry quay. Now we have got cars and people out of the area, he says. According to Magnussen, there is a great danger that several landslides may occur in the same area, and that the road between the ferry quay and the Bakkatunnel is particularly vulnerable. – We are concerned about that. Large amounts of rainfall have been reported and we see that the river is completely black. There is a lot of mass that can come down. QUEUES: Large queues have formed as a result of the landslide. Here from Flåm in Aurland, a few miles east of the crash site. Photo: Statens Vegvesen’s webcam Long queues and closed tunnels. The Gudvanga, Stalheim, Sivle, Flengja and Fredheim tunnels were closed due to the landslide. This is primarily to prevent queues from forming inside the tunnels, according to the Swedish Traffic Agency. E16 was closed indefinitely. A geologist will come and assess the area, but according to the West police district, it can be difficult due to fog and low cloud cover. E16 reopened just after 16:00. County road 5623 is closed between Gudvanga ferry quay and Bakka due to the risk of new landslides. According to the Road Traffic Center, a new assessment will be made tomorrow at 12.00. Three groups of tourists are also affected by the landslide. According to Stedje, some of these were to dock in Gudvangen, while others were to come with the Flåmsbanen and drive past by bus. Closure of the E16 results in long detours on the main road between Bergen and Oslo, especially for traffic between inner Sogn and Bergen. From Lærdal, the ferry connections Fodnes – Manheller and Hella – Vangsnes via Sogndal and national highway 13 Vikafjelles are used as a bypass. From Hallingdal, it is recommended to drive via national highway 7 over Hardangervidda. Further south, the E134 is an alternative for those going between east and west. Photo: Aurland fire service
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