– We felt that the cabin was lifted off the foundation. It felt like we were flying through the air. Everything went very quickly, but I managed to think: “now we’re going to die”. That’s what Vincent Dussauze says to news. We meet him and his wife Sreypov at Nordlandssykehuset Lofoten. Together with two other French tourists, they survived after their cabin was taken by a gust of wind in Lofoten and blown out to sea. They tell of a traumatic experience. – The cabin lands on a reef. I rose from the remains of the cabin. I didn’t know where my wife or our friends were. I didn’t know if they were alive, says Vincent. All that was left of the cabin was wreckage. After a while he saw his friends. They had made it to land. Then he caught sight of his wife. She can’t swim. – I got hold of her arm and am holding her tight. It was madness. We were in shock. I watched life pass in revue. When they got ashore, they knocked on the door of the neighboring cabin. Vincent and Sreypov Dussauze at the hospital in Gravdal lost all their possessions, bank cards, passports and mobile phones when the cabin they rented on Å disappeared at sea. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news – Scary – It was terribly scary, say the couple Maureen (25) and Antoine (26), who lived in the cabin next to the one that was blown to sea. They are also from France. Together with a couple from Switzerland, who were also holidaying in the cabins on Å, they tell what happened on Sunday evening. They had met the four who are now in hospital on the same day, on the ferry between Bodø and Moskenes and got talking. Coincidentally, they were also going to Å, and staying at the same campsite. – We arrived at 6 p.m. We had been warned by the owner that there was a strong storm ahead, says Antoine. CRUSHED TO PINNEVED: This is how the cabin was lying and floating in the sea when the police arrived at the scene. Photo: The police – Panicking They installed themselves in cabin number 5, cooked and sat down to eat. Antoine says that they felt well that the wind tore the cabin. At 11 p.m. he was standing in front of the large window facing the sea, while his roommate Maureen was lying on the sofa. – Suddenly there was a violent gust of wind, and the cabin moved. I panicked. My first contribution is to get us out to safety. He says that before he got that far he saw that the windows in cabin number 4 exploded. Then the wind blows the whole cabin away, which falls over the edge. Outside the cabin, he searched the internet for the telephone number and was notified of the police and fire brigade. It was pitch black and Antoine explains that it was difficult to see anything. – I could see that the cabin had been blown to sea. I thought “oh my god”. A sea shed was blown to sea in Å in Moskenes. Four people stayed in the sea shed, and have been sent to hospital. – Blood all over Fortunately, the four people in cabin number 4 had managed to get out of the collapsed cabin. Two of them got up and sought refuge in cabin number 2, where Juliette (26) and Maxime from Switzerland (29) lived. Just before there was a knock on the door, their own cabin was blowing on the sea. Here one of the injured French tourists is taken into the ambulance. Photo: 03030 tips – They were severely chilled and in shock. There was blood all over. We laid them on the floor and wrapped them in what we had of duvets and towels. Maxime then ran down to the sea to help rescue the last two people. Not long after, the emergency services arrived at the scene, and the four injured were transported to Nordlandssykehuset in Gravdal. The following day, all four are still shaken by what they have experienced. The car holiday to Northern Norway, where mountain tours in Lofoten and the Northern Lights in Tromsø were on the programme, did not go quite as planned. Maxime says that their cabin also moved in the storm. The emergency services at Å tonight. Four people were taken to hospital. Photo: 03030 tips – I was sure that our cabin would also blow out to sea. Now I’m just happy that everyone got out of it with their lives intact, he says. When news talks to the two couples, they are on their way to the hospital in Gravdal and visiting the four. Thanks for the good treatment Vincent and Sreypov Dussauze think they have been lucky. The friends suffered the greatest injuries. They themselves escaped the incident with cuts, blood loss and broken fingers. – When I realized that everyone was alive, I thought it was a miracle. It’s unbelievable, I thought we were going to die, he says. ONLY THE FOUNDATION REMAINS: This is all that remains after the cabin was blown to sea. One of the neighboring cabins was blown out of position. Photo: Tommy Johansen The plan was for them to spend six days in Lofoten. The holiday came to an abrupt end. Now they are left without any possessions. Passports, clothes and bank cards have disappeared at sea. – I’m never going back to Lofoten, says Vincent. The hospital is doing what it can to help, says unit manager for the surgical/orthopedic department, Vigdis Lorentzen. – We have to buy clothes, shoes and food. They must have a hotel tonight, so we are trying to make arrangements for them to be as comfortable as possible in a difficult situation, she says. Four of the five cabins in total were rented out at the weekend. The other residents were all evacuated. Dangerous hurling winds Neighbor Lars Friis was quickly on the scene after the incident. He had been called by the owners of the camping pass. On Sunday evening, a stiff gale blew with gusts of 26 meters per second in the area, according to Yr. – Locally here there are gusts that are very strong and can quickly become dangerous, says Friis. He thinks it is such a gust of wind that moved the cabin off its foundation and threw it into the sea. The cabin next door was about to suffer the same fate. The following day, the outermost cabin is secured with rope. Photo: 03030-tipser Investigation has started The police have started an investigation after four foreign tourists were sent to hospital after the sea shack they rented in Lofoten blew into the sea on Sunday evening. – We are opening a case on that, to see if the houses are built as they should be. It is not normal for such things to blow at sea. We have started an investigation and we will see what it shows. But for now we don’t know much, we’ve just started.
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