Avalanche in Arctic Norway tosses kids around, no injuries

Associated Press
Rescuers at the site where an avalanche passed road 228 and hit at least one building, in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. Tuesday's avalanche in Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, struck near area where two people were killed in a 2015 avalanche. (Scanpix Norway via AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A resident in Arctic Norway says four adults and two children were inside a house when an avalanche hit, knocking the building off its foundations, but all managed to get out safely.

Tuesday's avalanche in Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, struck near area where two people were killed in a 2015 avalanche.

Frank Johnny Olsen, who was inside the house Tuesday, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the children were "tossed around" but "we didn't think it was serious because the electricity didn't even go off."

Olsen says he was not aware of repeated avalanche warnings by authorities on the sparsely populated island midway between continental Norway and the North Pole.

The local governor's office confirmed there were no reports of injured or missing people.