– If I had come half a second later, we would have been taken by the landslide, says Hermann Nielsen (69).
He works as a taxi driver in Trønder Taxi, and had a passenger with him who was to catch a plane at Værnes, when Wednesday suddenly took a dramatic turn.
On the way out of the Stavsjø tunnel, Nielsen barely managed to see the soil masses race down towards the road, before he had to make a lightning-fast decision: To stop or drive all he could.
– HAD ANGEL GUARD: Hermann Nielsen and his passenger came unscathed from the landslide. Photo: Private
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– I had no chance to stop, so it was just to give full throttle. That was all I did. Then we almost got through, and were only taken in the back of the car, he says.
It was Adresseavisen who first mentioned Nielsen’s story.
So the car behind will be buried
The masses of soil and mud that hit the car were still enough for it to be turned 180 degrees and get a real push. It was even worse for the car behind him.
– Oncoming traffic saw that the landslide came and stopped, but we in the tunnel did not see it. It was a car behind us that was buried, says Nielsen.
They could barely see the wheels of the car that was taken by the landslide, but Nielsen’s passenger – a man from Botswana who works in Trondheim – went away to check.
– FULL GAS: Nielsen chose to drive all he could, and escaped the landslide with a cry of distress. Photo: Frank Lervik / TV 2
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– He got in touch with the man in the car, and I heard them talking together. It was soothing and lovely to hear, says Nielsen.
– It is “no mercy”
The man was sent to hospital, and was awake when he was transported away. But the landslide could quickly have fatal consequences, and Nielsen praises himself happily for having been quick in the situation.
– With the large masses, the windows on the car had probably broken. There is “no mercy” there, it is brutal, he says.
Fortunately, the dramatic day had a happy ending, both for Nielsen and the passenger – who caught the plane and was able to get home to the family in Botswana.
– DID NOT SEE THE SLIDE: It was out of this tunnel that Nielsen came when he drove straight into the landslide. Photo: Frank Lervik / TV 2
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Nielsen’s taxi, on the other hand, has been on sick leave for a while.
– The car was drivable and I could drive at 40 kilometers per hour with it. After delivering the passenger to Værnes, I went to the car repair shop afterwards, and there it is now, says Nielsen, and praises the employer for good follow-up.
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