OSLO: A bus carrying several foreign tourists, including Singaporeans, went off the road and ended up partially submerged in a lake near the Raftsundet strait that separates the Lofoten archipelago from the Norwegian mainland.

The accident killed three people, local police said on Thursday (Dec 26), adding that 58 people were impacted.

No Singaporeans were among the dead, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) told CNA on Saturday it has been rendering consular assistance and support, via the Honorary Consul-General in Oslo, to the affected Singaporeans "who sustained minor injuries".

MFA did not provide CNA with the number of affected Singaporeans but said that the consul-general has been in touch with local authorities.

According to Norwegian media reports, at least one Singaporean was slightly injured in the accident.

Responding to queries from CNA, the Norwegian embassy in Singapore said that the municipality where the accident occurred had activated its crisis-response team. They are also ensuring that passengers who are not being cared for in hospital "are all taken care of and have someone to talk to about the accident".

Passengers from seven countries were on board, including China, France, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway and South Sudan.

The Lofoten archipelago is a popular winter destination to watch the northern lights.

Norwegian police said some of the evacuated passengers were brought to a local school while three were transported to hospital by helicopter.

"The weather conditions in the region are bad, complicating rescue operations," they added.

"The priority now is to treat the injured and an investigation will be launched to clarify what transpired," Norwegian news agency NTB cited Nordland police officer Bent Are Eilertsen as saying.

He added it was proving difficult to contact relatives due to the lack of a complete list of passengers and the number of nationalities.