Norway sinkhole swallows motorway and railway, killing one

This picture taken Saturday shows a motorway damaged by a landslide at Nesvatnet near Levanger, Norway. (AFP)

An enormous sinkhole in Norway engulfed a portion of motorway and railway tracks, killing one person, authorities said Saturday.

The hole, spanning several dozen metres, affected both lanes of the E6 motorway and the tracks running alongside the road in the town of Levanger, some 500km north of Oslo, according to photos by Norwegian media.

A Danish worker who was onsite and went missing has been presumed dead, the police said in a statement.

The Norwegian public company responsible for managing the country’s railway infrastructure was carrying out work to stabilise the soil along the railway track, the company told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

The company stated it was too early to say whether the works could have triggered the sinkhole.

The ground in the area is largely composed of clay, which can cause such phenomena, according to experts quoted by the NTB news agency.

Two houses near the site of the incident have been evacuated.

The E6 motorway will be closed for several days in the area around the incident, the Norwegian Road Administration said.