OSLO REGIONAL COURT/ST. HANSHAUGEN (Dagbladet): – If more coal ash got scattered in the cave than happened, many people could be seriously injured and there could be death, fire inspector and expert Frode Michaelsen told Dagbladet.

On Tuesday, he took everyone who was present on the first day of the “cave party” trial into a bunker in St. Mary’s. Hanshougen. Here the judges get a look at what it was like when the much-talked-about rave party took place in late August 2020.

Two men accused of organizing an illegal party in the bunker, which previously belonged to the Civil Defense, were also brought back.

However, during the party, the mountain facilities were cleaned and closed, and therefore were not used.

During an examination in the cave, the two defendants briefly explained what happened when in the middle of a party, they realized that the door to the room where the unit was located suddenly opened. The room was originally closed.

When one of the two organizers came into the room to investigate what had happened, he found several people lifeless.

– I see two legs sticking out here, one of the defendants explained, pointing to the area in the deepest part of the room where one of those who were seriously injured during the incident is said to lie.

Admit partly guilt

The organizer must immediately start evacuating the unconscious person from the room where the unit is located, with the help of other participants.

However, the conditions were demanding – both considering the fact that everyone who entered the room was themselves exposed to the suffocating poison of carbon monoxide, and because the bunker was completely dark.

It was later discovered that two of the partygoers had suffered serious injuries after inhaling cullose. 25 people were taken to hospital for medical treatment.

Two of the organizers were indicted for negligently causing poisoning posing a general danger to life or health. However, both deny criminal responsibility in the matter, and on Wednesday they will give their statements to the court.

The two men in their 20s were also charged with violating the Fire and Explosion Protection Act, which the indictment described as very serious.

They partially pleaded guilty to this.

Lifeless “lying” outside

On the first day of the trial, Michaelsen’s fire expert gave an account of the incident. He initially said that 110 centers were notified of the incident at 3:59 a.m., whereas the police had been notified about ten minutes earlier.

– What we were told later was that there was talk of a cave with several people being unconscious and possibly coal poisoning, said Michaelsen.

At 04.05 a new message came to the 110 center that there were at least six people unconscious inside and outside the cave.

Firefighters arrived at the scene two minutes later, and described lifeless people “strewn” outside the cave.

– The crew saw several people lying unconscious outside the cave when they arrived. Emergency crews launched a life-saving search in the mountainous area, while other crews contributed with life-saving treatment on the spot, fire inspectors said.

Unsolved cave drama

– Dangerous to life

During Michaelsen’s testimony as an expert in court, the so-called CO measurements, that is, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, were also presented. Due to a lack of equipment, emergency services were unable to take accurate measurements during the incident itself.

Therefore, the fire service has been working on reconstructing the incident in the aftermath, so that they can get more accurate measurements.

– There may have been very high concentrations of CO2 inside the mountain facility during the incident. We have made efforts afterward to try to replicate what happened, and there were such high concentrations in parts of the cave that it was dangerous to stay there for even five minutes, said the fire inspector.

– Is it reasonable to assume that the concentration is in fact as high as in your experiment?

– Yes, very likely. We can’t say with 100 percent certainty, but it’s close.

Can run well

Fire inspectors believed that if more time passed before someone discovered the leak from the room where the unit was located, the toxic coulose would quickly spread to the room where the party was taking place.

This scenario could mean several deaths in a short amount of time.

Risked his life. Now the police officer spoke up

– The organizers believe they have taken measures to secure the room where the unit is located. How do you see these steps?

– Attempts have been made to seal it, possibly to prevent the spread of odors or gas. But we don’t know if that’s good enough. If a fire starts, the sealing won’t be good enough to stop it, Michaelsen replied.

– Is it conceivable that if no one opened the room where the unit was located, could it be close enough that no one got poisoned by coal in the party?

– I guess. But it’s hard to judge how much the coal ash has dispersed.

There is no evacuation plan

The fire department also made scathing criticism of the general safeguarding of fire safety during the event, which is also part of the charge.

Here a number of irregularities were found, and among the most serious deviations was a very poor fire warning and evacuation plan.

– If panic breaks out here, if, for example, a lot of people are seriously affected by this CO gas, there’s only one way out. It was difficult to use, and only one person could exit the passage at low speed.