KRØDSHERAD / FLÅ / OSLO (Dagbladet 🙂 – Right now I am standing here with tears in my eyes and looking down at the flagpole. It is clear that it is dramatic when we lose people that way.
The mayor of Krødsherad municipality, Knut Martin Glesne, told Dagbladet, after three people lost their lives late Monday night in a traffic accident on national road 7 in Flå, when a car collided with a truck.
Efforts are being made to ensure identification of the deceased, but both the mayor of Glesne and the mayor of Flå, Merete H. Gandrud, confirm that the deceased are residents of the two municipalities mentioned.
Crisis staff and psychosocial crisis team have been implemented in both municipalities.
– It’s a tough day for everyone involved. Now we try to take care of each other as best we can, Gandrud says to Dagbladet.
HALF MAST: It is flown at half mast in front of the town hall in Krødsherad, after the tragic car accident in which three people died. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet
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Several ugly accidents
Glesne tells Dagbladet that he was notified of the incident at seven o’clock early today.
– It is clear that this is something you take inward. Krødsherad is a small municipality where most people know each other. There are only 2220 people living here, the mayor explains.
He then says that the national road is an accident-prone stretch.
– Unfortunately, there have been a number of ugly accidents there. I know that a number of measures are being worked on, at the same time as there are already middle dividers in some places.
SHEETS: To the left of the photo, the Accident Investigation Board is working, while rescue crews are removing the truck after the tragic car accident in which three people died. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet
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Violent forces
When Dagbladet is at the accident site on Tuesday afternoon, it still bears a strong mark of the incident and violent forces.
About fifty meters of the guardrail is gone and the truck is lifted twenty to thirty meters up from the shoulder of the road. The hazard warning lights are on, but the truck is a total wreck.
The police on the spot say that it has been a very demanding operation.
The truck driver was taken to hospital after the accident, but recovered from the incident without major injuries.
Dagbladet has been in contact with the truck driver’s boss. He says that the incident is very tragic and that he is speechless.
– Our driver is doing well according to the conditions. He will be followed up and offered crisis help, says the company manager.
HALF MAST: Also in Flå, flags are flown at half mast in front of the town hall. Photo: Bjørn Langsem / Dagbladet
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Asks residents not to travel
Krødsherad mayor Glesne says that the most important thing the municipality is doing now is to contribute to the mourning work.
– We make our device available and are available as long as the relatives want it. What is good to know is that they have relatives and friends around them. There are many who visit them and they are taken care of.
He then says that they can only take the days further as they arrive, but he also urges that no one travels to the accident site itself yet.
– There are definitely some who want to go up there and light candles or lay down flowers, but they must not do that yet. It is a dangerous stretch of traffic. We should rather talk to the police and come back to do this at a later date.
Uncertain course of events
What is the cause of the fatal accident is not yet certain. When Dagbladet spoke with the police station chief in Hallingdal at 14.22 on Tuesday, work was still being carried out at the accident site.
– The road is still partially closed and work is being done to salvage the vehicles. In addition, both the police and the accident group in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration conduct investigations on the spot.
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