Operations manager Eirik Kileng at the Troms police district informs news at 21:46 that the missing person has been declared dead. The deceased is in his mid-20s and an American citizen. The police say that he was located and dug out in the landslide. The skier was pronounced dead at the scene. The police say that next of kin have been notified. Found at an altitude of 300 meters There were a total of three people in the American entourage, two of whom went on the trip to Middagstinden, while the last one waited in the car in the car park at the start of the route. Middagstinden is a 1006 meter high mountain located on Kvaløya in Tromsø municipality. The starting point for the route is at an altitude of approximately 100 meters a few miles outside the center of Tromsø. The messages throughout Sunday afternoon and evening were that the avalanche must have been triggered high in the mountains. – The man was found dead at approximately 300 meters south of Middagstinden, says operations manager Kileng. He says that it has been a challenging search for the reports that the rock was released so high up in the mountain. – We have been dependent on getting up by helicopter to get an overview of avalanche-dangerous areas, and to locate the avalanche, says Kileng. – There have been very demanding flying conditions, and we have struggled to get in the air by helicopter. The avalanche was located by crews from the Red Cross. Equipment was found first It was early Sunday afternoon when the man was taken by an avalanche in very steep terrain. This must have happened at the top of Middagstinden. After 8 p.m., the police reported that they had located a landslide at the neighboring mountain Tverrfjellet. A ski pole and a glove were found in the avalanche, and the police confirmed that these belong to the missing persons. Two hours before the police were notified, the party of two must have been almost at the peak of Middagstiden. There, one of them was taken by the avalanche sometime after 2 p.m. The comrade was unable to find his friend after the avalanche. He got results on an avalanche finder, but it was too steep for him to be able to search further. The man made his way down to the car park and notified a foreign citizen, who was not part of the tour group, about what had happened. Approximately two hours had passed when the police received a call at 16:17. Operations leader Morten Renland says that there is no coverage in the area where the landslide has occurred, and that they were therefore unable to call for help from the mountain. The tour group also had foreign telephone numbers from which it was difficult to call Norway. Challenging to search Earlier on Sunday evening, the police could tell about challenging conditions: – It is very challenging now. It is very steep in the area, said the incident leader at the scene, Morten Renland at 19:00. Morten Renland, incident leader at the police. Photo: Hans Andreassen / news – We have had some weather windows which have allowed us to search with both drones and helicopters, said Renland. – We are now searching further in this area with transmitters and receivers. We will try a dog search, said Renland. The police then worked with two hypotheses. – That the person in question is under the masses of snow, or that the person in question has ended up in a terrain trap or a rock formation after being damaged by the forces after the avalanche, said Renland. The police and the Red Cross are on the scene. Photo: hans Ludvig Andreassen / news The helicopters have attempted to move into the area. Photo: Jørn Inge Johansen / news Hoping for a weather window Avalanche dogs from the police and Norwegian rescue dogs were included in the search on Sunday evening. The police located several small landslides in the area in question on Sunday, but the weather conditions mean that the helicopters are still unable to fly in the area. Shortly before the American tourist was caught by an avalanche, another skier was caught by an avalanche on Skittentinden, which is located close to Middagstinden. The skier was transported to the University Hospital of Northern Norway and is said to have suffered broken bones.
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One person declared dead after an avalanche on Kvaløya in Tromsø – news Troms og Finnmark
