A large section of highway in southwestern Sweden collapsed last night. Three people were slightly injured and taken to hospital. This was announced by the Swedish police, quoted by BTA and Reuters.
The landslide caused damage to the highway connecting Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg and the Norwegian capital Oslo, in the area of the small town of Stenungsund, located about 50 km from Gothenburg on the west Swedish coast.
“The most damaged parts in the area of the landslide are 150 by 100 meters in size. In total, the landslides affected an area of 700 by 200 meters,” the Gothenburg rescue service specified.
About ten cars, a wooded area and a business district with a gas station, as well as a fast food restaurant were damaged in the landslide, she added.
Firefighters and helicopters helped an unspecified number of people out of their cars in the landslide area.
Several cars and a truck fell into holes and cracks caused by landslides, the Swedish news agency TT reported.
A spokesman for emergency services told local public television that all people trapped in their cars had been extricated.
The police announced on their website that an investigation has been launched, which will determine whether the landslide was caused by activities at a nearby construction site.
“It is currently unclear whether there is a causal relationship between blasting or other activities at the construction site and the landslide,” law enforcement officials said.
Emergency and rescue services indicated that specially trained officers and tracking dogs would search the area and added that further landslides were not excluded.
