13 Dutch hikers stranded in mountains of central Norway

Thirteen Dutch hikers are stranded in the mountains of central Norway, where rescue helicopters are unable to reach them because of blizzards and worries about avalanches, police said Friday.

The hikers, aged between 25 and 40, are stranded in a mountain valley about 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) high around 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) northwest of Oslo, they said.

They started from the village of Bjorli on February 21 and are scheduled to return on Saturday, police said.

"Several hikers have sent distress messages via satellite during the morning of Friday," Atle von Obstfelder, an operations chief for the Norwegian police's mountain rescue service, told AFP by phone.

"A friend (of theirs) in Holland received a call that they were okay at about 1530 yesterday (Thursday), so something happened today (Friday) but we don't know when exactly, and we don't what."

Helicopter rescues were attempted twice on Friday, but pilots were forced to turn around because of poor visability because of the snow and concerns about triggering avalanches, he said.

Seven snowmobiles were then dispatched, but "because of the snowy conditions, we are having some difficulty getting to them," Obstfelder added.