HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE WEEKEND TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES IN NORWAY AND CENTRAL SWEDEN CUTTING OFF ROADS AND A RAILWAY BRIDGE, DPA REPORTED TODAY. SOME 70 PEOPLE WERE EVACUATED FROM SEVERAL LOCATIONS ALONG HIGHWAY 15 BETWEEN LOM AND VAGA, SOME 380 KILOMETRES NORTH OF THE CAPITAL OSLO BECAUSE OF LANDSLIDES. RESCUE WORKERS FERRIED 21 PEOPLE TO SAFETY WHO HAD SOUGHT COVER IN A 1-KILOMETRE LONG ROAD TUNNEL ON THE HIGHWAY. THERE WERE NO REPORTS THAT VEHICLES WERE HIT BY FALLING ROCKS, BUT A HOUSE WAS DAMAGED BY THE LANDSLIDE, ALTHOUGH NO PERSON WAS REPORTED INJURED, POLICE SAID. POLICE SAID IT WOULD LIKELY TAKE SEVERAL DAYS TO CLEAR THE HIGHWAY FOR TRAFFIC BETWEEN VAGAMO AND LOM. HEAVY RAINFALL ON SUNDAY UNDERMINED THE FOUNDATIONS OF A RAILWAY BRIDGE AND A RAILWAY EMBANKMENT IN JAMTLAND, CENTRAL SWEDEN. THE BRIDGE COLLAPSED JUST AS A MOTOR-COACH WITH SOME 60 PASSENGERS PASSED OVER IT AND THEN DERAILED, BUT NO ONE SUSTAINED ANY PHYSICAL INJURIES, LOCAL MEDIA REPORTED. PART OF THE TRACK DANGLED OVER AN 8-METRE GORGE, AND A 30-METRE- LONG STRETCH OF THE E14 HIGHWAY WAS ALSO SWEPT AWAY. EFFORTS WERE PLANNED MONDAY TO TOW THE MOTOR-COACH TO OSTERSUND.
