Send to Kindle
An injured person is carried from a helicopter in Longyearbyen, 05 August 2011, after a polar bear killed one person and left four other members of a British group seriously injured in an attack in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Photo by EPA
One Briton has been killed and four other people severely injured in a polar bear attack in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, officials said Friday.
The five were members of a British group who were at the Von Postbreen glacier, a statement on the Svalbard governor's website said. Their nationalities have not been confirmed.
They were taken for treatment in Longyearbyen, the largest settlement in Svalbard, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away, the statement said, and would be flown to another hospital in the northern Norwegian city of Tromso.
The polar bear has been killed, the statement added.
The UK's Foreign Office confirmed that a British national had been killed and said relatives of those involved had been informed.
"A consular team headed by the ambassador and the vice consul are on their way to the scene," a spokesman said.
A notice posted on the website earlier this year warned of polar bear sightings near Longyearbyen. Seeking out or disturbing polar bears is banned under local laws.
Norwegian public transport operator Ruter announced plans to tighten cybersecurity measures after discovering that Chinese-made Yutong electric buses in its fleet
A British judge has raised concerns about a growing trend of young Bulgarians being drawn into drug dealing in Cornwall
British expatriates Christine and Eric Thompson moved to Bulgaria in 2016, drawn by the promise of a quieter life
A new project funded by the European Union has been launched in Bulgaria to determine the exact number of brown bears living in the country
Air traffic in parts of Northern Europe was severely disrupted on the evening of September 22 after unidentified drones were spotted near major airports in Denmark and Norway, prompting full closures of airspace in both capitals
On September 13, London saw one of the largest right-wing demonstrations in recent memory, as anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson led the “Unite the Kingdom” march through the capital
An Italian journalist has been dismissed from his post after posing a question about Israel’s responsibility for Gaza’s reconstruction during a European Commission press briefing
Swiss commodities trader Gunvor has withdrawn its offer to acquire the foreign assets of Russian energy company Lukoil after the U.S. Treasury Department labeled it a “Kremlin puppet” and made clear that Washington opposed the deal
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is reportedly losing influence within the Kremlin following a failed exchange with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
The European Commission has formally decided to suspend part of Bulgaria’s second payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, amounting to 214,544,232 euros
Ukrainian forces continue to cling to their positions in and around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, as Russian troops push deeper into the two cities, tightening the noose and threatening to cut off the defenders entirely
Norwegian public transport operator Ruter announced plans to tighten cybersecurity measures after discovering that Chinese-made Yutong electric buses in its fleet
Bulgaria's Strategic Role in the EU's Drone Wall Defense Initiative
When Politics Means Violence
