Tysvær Rescue: Two Critical Patients Retrieved from Water

GERMANY: At 18.38 on Sunday, the police received a report that a person had possibly walked through the ice on Aksdalsvatnet in Tysvær.

– Cries for help have been heard, said operations manager Helene Strand in the Sør-West police district then.

The emergency services then went to the scene.

– The rescue helicopter does the same, the police reported.

A SAR Queen rescue helicopter and an air ambulance were requested from Stavanger.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation

At 7 pm there was an update:

– So far no sightings of anyone on the ice or in the water. Work continues to locate the person in question if there is anyone on the ice or in the water, Strand said.

Shortly afterwards, the two helicopters arrived at the scene.

Operations manager Strand was also able to say that two people had been observed on the ice earlier on Sunday.

– Uncertain if these are the ones we are now looking for.

At 19.12 the police announced that two people had been found, and that they would be lifted up by a rescue helicopter.

– The people are lifeless and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation, journalist’s note) is being performed in the helicopter on its way to Haukeland University Hospital now. Work is being done to find out who these people are, said Strand.

Looking for more: – Sudden increased activity

Shortly after 8 p.m., the police reported that they were working to find out if there were more people who could have gone through the ice than the two who had been transported to Bergen.

Our journalist noticed this on the level of activity in the area.

– There was a sudden increase in activity among those left by emergency services. There are divers, fire brigade and police here, and now there is a bit of running. Among other things, I see a fireman sprinting. So it’s ongoing here. They have taken an inflatable boat down to the water. It seems that they are setting themselves up for further activity, said journalist Harald Bersaas.

ON THE SITE: The air ambulance on land, with a SAR Queen rescue helicopter in the air in the background.
Photo: Jostein Viestad/Press Photography

The boat was taken out on the water, where the emergency services continued to search.

The police have since come into contact with the third person, who is safe, and at 9pm the emergency services finished their work at the scene.

The condition of the two people who were flown to Haukeland University Hospital is according to VG critical.

Means to know who the people are

The police believe they know who the two people are, and they have been in contact with their families, the police inform the press.

Municipal director Sigurd Eikje in Tysvær municipality writes in a message to Haugesund’s Avis that the municipality is in contact with the police and is ready to contribute if necessary.