Two Norwegian and two Swedish students, all men in their 20s, have been missing since Sunday afternoon when they left Longyearbyen aiming to reach Newtontoppen.
A signal from an emergency sender, still operating on Wednesday morning, is the only sign of life from the four friends studying at the University Center in Svalbard. The signal was coming from an area about 130 kilometers northeast of Longyearbyen.
"There was zero visibility where the emergency sender is activated, it was like flying in a white sack," said rescue team member Inge Skjevik.
With visibility limited to just a few meters, rescuers were also unable to enter the area on snowmobile or ski. The glacial area is marked by fissures and considered to be dangerous.
"They have triggered their emergency sender because they need acute assistance. We don't know why," Erlend Folstad of the Red Cross' glacier resuce team told Aftenposten.
The rescue team hope that the students have done the smart thing and are waiting together in a tent rather than risking blind solo trips. The four men were traveling on snowmobiles and were equipped to spend the night in arctic terrain.
Students and staff at the University Center waited anxiously for news.
"But we must remember that this is Svalbard. It is not unusual for an emergency sender to go off and for the missing to be rescued unharmed. So far there is no reason to overreact," said Fred Skancke Hansen, head of the school's safety training.
