Police in Norway say a serious collision involving two vehicles has closed the northbound side of the E18 at Larvik, with traffic at a standstill at the scene.
The crash occurred between junction 45, Bommestadkrysset, and junction 44, Ringdalkrysset, in the direction of Sandefjord, according to Telemarksavisa. The police district for the south-east of the country reported the incident at 06:27 on Thursday morning.
The sequence of events leading up to the collision is not yet established, Telemarksavisa reports. Espen Reite, the on-duty operations chief for the Sør-Øst police district, said life-saving first aid was being given at the site.
Why it matters
The E18 is one of the main arteries linking Oslo with the towns of Vestfold and the coast further south-west, and a closure in the northbound lanes at Larvik lands squarely on the morning commute. Telemarksavisa reports that the road is expected to remain shut in the northbound direction for several hours, which means drivers heading toward Sandefjord and beyond will need to find another route or expect significant delay.
The location, between two junctions on a stretch of motorway near Bommestad, also leaves limited scope for traffic to filter around the scene. With vehicles reported to be stationary at the site, the disruption is immediate as well as prolonged.
What police have said so far
The operations chief's message to the public was brief and practical: the northbound carriageway is likely to stay closed for a number of hours. Telemarksavisa reports that police have not yet described how the two cars came to collide, and no further details about the people involved have been released.
Reite confirmed that emergency responders were carrying out life-saving first aid at the scene. That wording indicates the incident is being treated as grave, though police have not given any information on injuries or on how many people were in the vehicles.
Investigators and road authorities on their way
Police forensic technicians were travelling to the location, along with the accident investigation team from Statens Vegvesen, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Telemarksavisa reports. Their presence points to a formal examination of the crash site, which typically involves documenting the positions of the vehicles and the condition of the road before anything is cleared.
The involvement of the roads administration's accident group is standard practice on the national road network, and it means the scene is likely to be held for some time while evidence is gathered. That work runs alongside the closure, and it helps explain why police are warning of a multi-hour shutdown rather than a quick reopening.
Other Norwegian outlets, including Aftenposten, NRK and TV 2, also reported the collision on Thursday morning, with Aftenposten describing the E18 into Oslo as closed. Traffic approaching from the south should assume the northbound lanes at Larvik are unavailable until police say otherwise.
Drivers in the area are advised to follow police and roads administration updates rather than rely on default navigation routes, which may continue to direct vehicles toward the closed section. Alternative roads through the Larvik district are the likely detour, though no official diversion has been described in the reporting so far.
What happens next depends on the medical situation at the scene and on how long investigators need to complete their work. Watch for updates from the Sør-Øst police district on the condition of those involved and on when the northbound lanes at Bommestad reopen.
