According to witnesses at the scene, the car drove off the ferry at full throttle and ended up in the water.
Sunday 28 April at 21:46
The alarm went off just before six thirty on Sunday evening. A car drove off a ferry and ended up in the water outside Norrtälje in Sweden.
Divers were quickly dispatched to the scene.
At 21.28 Swedish media reports that an elderly man and woman have died.
According to the police, the people were in the water for 50 minutes before they were picked up by divers.
According to the Swedish Maritime Administration’s information, the car must have driven onto the ferry and then continued through the gates and into the water. The car then sank with the people inside.
The people were taken to hospital by air ambulance, but their lives could not be saved.
Lots of question marks
At around 18.45, Aftonbladet reported that two people had been picked up from the car, well over an hour after it ended up in the water.
Bengt Olsson at the Swedish Transport Administration, which manages the current ferry traffic, told the Swedish newspaper that there are many question marks surrounding the accident.
– It was passengers who notified us that there were bags floating in the water, he said earlier on Sunday.
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RESCUE ACTION: All emergency services were sent to the scene when the message came in. -
RESCUE ACTION: All emergency services were sent to the scene when the message came in. Photo: Jimmy Wixtröm / Aftonbladet
Photo: Jimmy Wixtröm / Aftonbladet
Full throttle
Several people witnessed the accident. One of them was Ingemar Becker, who Aftonbladet spoke to.
– The ferry was filled with several cars and the ramp went up. Suddenly something happens to the car and at full throttle it crashes into the gates, makes a huge jump, dives into the water and immediately disappears, he says.
Then several bags floated to the surface of the water.
– I quickly got out of my car and shouted that we should get a lifebuoy. Then people poured out of the cars and we raised the alarm. We ran forward but could not see the car. Then came the helicopters, he says.
He lives in the area and has therefore taken the ferry several times in the past.
– I have seen a lot in my life, but nothing like this. It was very terrible, he continues.
Police are investigating the incident as a traffic accident, but say that could change.
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