A woman in her 20s has been confirmed dead, while a man in his 20s is still missing after an accident in Flekkefjord on Sunday.
This is confirmed by assignment manager Christian Ekra at the Agder police district to Dagbladet.
– The next of kin have been informed that the woman is dead, says Ekra.
Police station chief at Flekkefjord and Kvinesdal police station Liv Versland Seland informs Dagbladet on Monday evening that no new searches will be carried out on Monday.
– It is a bigger task to plan a search for a presumed dead person. An extensive search was carried out yesterday, and first you have to go through it and then it has to be planned, says Seland.
She adds:
– Nothing has been initiated today.
There were four people in the party, says the police station chief.
– There are two accidents and two are being questioned now, so we’ll see if they can bring any information about what happened, says Seland.
Perished
It was on Sunday afternoon that the rescue helicopter and emergency services moved out following reports of people in the sea outside Flekkefjord.
– It has been confirmed that there were two people who fell into the sea, and that one has not been found. The person who was picked up has been flown to Haukeland hospital, the police in Agder say.
The first reports about the people lying in the water came to the police in Agder on Sunday at 17:59.
A woman was rescued from the water a short time later, while a search was also underway for a man in his 20s, the police said. The two must be foreign citizens, but resident in Norway.
– We don’t have a status on the woman’s state of health right now, but she has been flown to Haukeland University Hospital, says operations manager Øyvind Hægeland to Dagbladet at 10.30pm.
On the night of Monday, she was confirmed dead.
– Not good
At 22.30, a search was still underway for a person in the water.
– We are continuing the search with lifeboats and the coast guard, says operations manager Hægeland.
He says that the chance of survival is now considered to be small, but that they are still continuing the search.
– A new assessment will be made at midnight, says the operations manager.
He says that the woman’s relatives were at the scene when the accident happened.
– Do you know what has happened?
– This is a steep mountainside that goes straight down into the sea. There is a drop of perhaps 20 – 25 metres. Falling there is not good, Hægeland replies.
At 03.30 on the night of Monday, mission leader Christian Ekra informs Dagbladet that the rescue operation on land has ended, but that the Coast Guard is in the area to carry out searches throughout the night.
Observed in the water
Earlier on Sunday, the police wrote that they are on the scene with a patrol and a task leader. The search continues with lifeboats, a fire boat, divers, a helicopter and a drone, the police wrote.
Eivind Bø, rescue manager at the Central Rescue Service, tells Dagbladet that they received a report about people in the sea.
– There was a report that someone on land had observed one to two people in the water.
Dagbladet previously quoted NRK as saying that there was talk of a child being picked up. Agder police district, on the other hand, states that it is not about children.
– We have now received the personal details of the two people. It is not about children, but about two people in their 20s.