In Sweden, a highway collapses for more than a hundred meters

A highway collapsed on Saturday September 23 over more than a hundred meters near Gothenburg in south-west Sweden, overturning vehicles and causing three minor injuries, emergency services and police said.

An investigation was opened to shed light on a possible link with a neighboring construction site.

The landslide "affected around ten vehicles, a forest area and a commercial area including a gas station and a fast restaurant," said Daniel Lyckelid, an emergency services manager for the Gothenburg region in a statement. .

The most affected area covers an area of 100 meters by 150 meters but in total, the landslide extends over an area of approximately 700 meters by 200 meters, emergency services said.

Three people were taken to hospital with "minor injuries" following the collapse, which occurred in Stenungsund, 50 km north of Gothenburg, a police spokesperson said. August Brandt.

Local media images show a large breach running more than a hundred meters, with several trucks damaged and tilted while a bus has sunk into a hole.

Large cracks crack the parking lot of a gas station and the roof of the nearby Burger King fast food restaurant has partly collapsed. A wooded area has subsided significantly.

“Several people were helped out of their vehicles in the landslide area with the help of firefighters and helicopters,” emergency services added.

The driver of a truck parked in the area's parking lot, Uladzislau Miklash, told radio P4 Väst that he woke up when his truck started to slide. “My vehicle started moving and I didn’t understand what was happening,” he said.

The landslide occurred shortly before 02:00 a.m.

A preliminary investigation for "aggravated public destruction" has been opened and investigators will question staff at a nearby construction site where explosions took place, police announced in a statement.

“It is not certain whether there is a link between the blasting, the work on the site and the collapse,” police added.

The risk of other landslides cannot be excluded at this stage, according to emergency services.

The Swedish National Transport Administration is planning a closure of this section of the E6 motorway for several weeks.