The cause of the accident is not yet known. According to the authorities, the rehabilitation of the road will take a long time.
Roni Kuronen,
Yrjö Kokkonen
An extraordinary landslide occurred in western Sweden at night, many Swedish media reports, for example public radio SVT.
At the Stenungsund agglomeration, the ground gave out from under the E6 motorway. The motorway broke in several places over a distance of up to 500 meters, SVT says. Stenungsund is located about 50 kilometers north of Gothenburg.
Swedish rescue authorities were alerted at 1:45 a.m. the night before Saturday. Access to the accident site is challenging due to the risk of landslides.
– This will have big consequences. It will take a long time before the road can be opened again, the fire marshal on duty in the Gothenburg area Mats Gränsmark tells.
According to the Swedish Transport Agency, the E6 passing through Skåne is one of Sweden’s busiest highways. According to the agency’s estimates, more than 50,000 vehicles travel on the road every day.
“I opened the windows and noticed the ground swaying”
Four cars and a bus crashed before traffic could be stopped, says Aftonbladet newspaper. Three people have been taken for treatment.
A gas station, a hamburger restaurant and other shops were located in the Sortuma area. Eyewitnesses tell how the ground began to slide as if from side to side.
– I saw the trees falling and the ground just like sliding underneath. The hamburger place is completely scattered. The house has probably moved five meters, says the truck driver Michael Romanescu for DN.
A Belarusian who transported ice machines from Norway to Trelleborg in southern Sweden Miklash Uladzislau was sleeping in a nearby parking lot at the time of the incident.
– I woke up to my truck starting to move. I opened the windows and noticed the ground rocking.
The cause of the accident is not yet known. Apparently, a lot of fill soil had been used in the area, and topsoil had been removed higher up on the slope to make way for the motocross track.
It has also rained heavily in the region in recent days.
– The soil has failed over a fairly large area, which suggests that it is not just the road, a spokesman for the Swedish Transport Agency Bengt Olsson states.
– We already know that there are a lot of mud deposits in the area. When the water flows under the road, the layers can suddenly detach from each other and start sliding, he continues.