Swedish police technicians investigate the scene of Friday’s bus crash into a bus shelter in Stockholm, Sweden. The incident left several injured and hospitalized. Photo by Claudio Bresciani/EPA
Nov. 14 (UPI) — A bus crash Friday in Stockholm left several dead after it ran into a bus facility, Swedish law enforcement officials said.
The double-decker bus crash took place around 3 p.m. in the Ostermalm area with multiple others seriously injured.
Police did not give an exact number of casualties.
Officials confirmed the only person on board was the driver, who was arrested.
Authorities cornered off Valhallavägen, the street near where the crash happened, close to the city’s Royal Institute of Technology.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
“I have received the tragic news that several people have lost their lives and been injured at a bus stop in central Stockholm,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote Friday morning on X, adding victims were “people who may have been on their way home to family, friends or a quiet evening at home.”
The bus is owned by France-based global transport company Transdev, which confirmed the deadly incident.
The bus was not supposed to be in service at the time it crashed, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported, according to EuroNews.
“We do not yet know the cause of this, but right now my thoughts are primarily with those who have been affected and their loved ones,” Kristersson stated.
Sweden’s head of government went on to say police and rescue services “now have a very difficult and important job to do.”
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said she was “closely following the developments and is in close contact with the relevant authorities.”
Police were investigating the crash as a possible case of aggravated or involuntary manslaughter.
“I urge everyone to show consideration and understanding for their tasks,” Kristersson said.