Landslides, trees, roadblocks and large rocks are located above the RV. 13 in Ullensvang after a rock slide between the Oksla and Stanata tunnels this morning. Rune Lofthus is the general manager of Lofthus bygg, which is located half an hour north of the landslide area. One of his employees was working on the other side of the fjord when he heard the rumble. When he turned, he saw the rock masses thundering down the mountainside and across the road. – It’s just pig luck that there was no life, says Lofthus. Small margins The police were notified of a major landslide at 07.08. Lofthus says that he and his colleagues often drive on the road between Odda and Kinsarvik. Just this morning, three of his employees had driven on the stretch. Two of them were on their way home from night shift in the seventies. – The one who drove first got through, while the one who came behind was stopped. We are talking about small margins, he says. According to him, there is a lot of granite in the mountain sides, which makes the area vulnerable to landslides when the fine weather turns out. – There are a lot of landslides here, but it is rare that there are such large landslides. You can see the rocks splashing in the fjord, and it is not something you expect on a nice summer day. Hardingen calls for better landslide protection, and wants more politicians to come on the scene to secure the roads in the district. – It seems that people almost have to go into the landslide to get landslide protection in place, he says. There is damage to both road safety and infrastructure, and the avalanche safety net came with the landslide. Photo: West police district Major landslide Operations manager in the West police district, Jørgen Ommedal, says that the police and fire brigade are on site. – There has been a major rock fall and there are a good number of trees that have fallen. The whole road is covered, and it has reached down to the sea, he says. According to him, there is no reason to believe that anyone was caught in the landslide, but some boathouse at the bottom of the landslide must have been hit. The landslide is said to have started relatively high up in the mountains. The avalanche safety net on site must also have been torn down in the landslide. – It has gone right through. It says something about how much force is involved, says the operations manager. Uncertain when the road will open – There is damage to car protection and infrastructure, so it may take some time to fix, says Ommedal. The contractor has set up roadblocks, and the road will be closed until further notice. A geologist has also come to the site to assess the risk of landslides. – A lot of loose material has been observed up in the mountainside, says Ommedal. Jenny Nilsson at Vegtrafikksentralen says that it is uncertain when the road will reopen. – Geologists are on site, but we have not received feedback on what needs to be done yet.
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– Pig luck that there was no life – news Vestland
