Norway: Child injured in Svalbard avalanche dies in hospital

Norway: Child injured in Svalbard avalanche dies in hospital

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Norwegian police say one of two children who were seriously injured in an avalanche on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard has died.

Police spokeswoman Kjerstin Askholt announced the death on Sunday, a day after the avalanche slammed into Longyearbyen, the main settlement on Svalbard. She didn't give the age or sex of the child.

A 42-year-old teacher was pronounced dead on Saturday. Eight other people remained hospitalized.

The snowslide knocked houses off their foundations and buried some people under several feet of snow. More than 100 people in the town of 2,000 were evacuated from their homes as a precaution in case of further avalanches.

Svalbard, a sparsely populated island group midway between continental Norway and the North Pole, is cloaked in darkness at this time of year.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-12-21