Three Motorists Injured After HUGE Five-Metre-Deep Sinkhole Affects Major Swedish Motorway

A landslide in Southern Sweden this Saturday, September 23, caused a giant sinkhole to open next to a major motorway.

The incident occurred in the early hours of this morning near the town of Stenungsund. Three people were hospitalised – mainly for shock and with minor fractures – after vehicles skidded off the E6 that connects the city of Gothenburg with Oslo in Norway.

According to the police, at least four cars left the road, along with a bus. Buildings in the vicinity also reportedly suffered damage, one of which was a Burger King restaurant, as reported by Göteborgsposten.

An area of ​​approximately 14,000 m² was affected – which is roughly equivalent to 21 football pitches – with the hole measuring some five to six metres in depth Niclas Fogelqvist, the alarm and control officer at the scene told SVT.

August Brandt, a spokesperson for the police told SVT: ‘We do not rule out that more landslides may occur. We are working hard’.

Dogs and specialised search personnel were deployed

In a statement, the Gothenburg Rescue Services said: ‘The hardest hit parts of the landslide area measure around 150 x 100 metres. A number of people have been helped out of vehicles in the slide area with the help of fire personnel and a helicopter’.

Dogs and specially trained personnel were deployed to the site where they conducted a search operation to ensure that there were no people left in the area of the sinkhole.

Asked about the possibility of more people remaining in there, August Brandt told Expressen: ‘We have no indications that there are, but we want to ensure that part’. All of the motorists whose vehicles left the road have been accounted for he added.

The cause of the landslide has not been established

The exact cause of the landslide is unknown at this moment but police officers are investigating whether explosives being used on a nearby construction site were related to the incident. In that instance, it could reportedly be classed as a case of gross destruction of public danger.

In a statement, the police said: ‘It is still unclear if there is any connection to the blasting/work at the site and the collapse’.

A message on the police website warned: ‘Getting past the police roadblocks means violating the authority’s orders and can result in fines or imprisonment for up to a year’. A no-fly zone has been established over the area, which also applies to drones, reported aftonbladet.se.

It had also been raining before the collapse occurred

Niclas Fogelqvist informed SVT that there had been a long period of rainfall prior to the landslide, which could also have caused the problem.

Michail Romanescu, a lorry driver, told Dagens Nyheter how his vehicle came to be involved. ‘Suddenly I saw how the asphalt just broke up. I just wanted to escape’, he explained.

According to the Swedish rescue service, today’s collapse could have serious repurcussions with the damaged stretch of the motorway probably remaining closed for a considerable period.