17 injured in motorway pile-up in southern Sweden

Seventeen people were injured in multi-vehicle collision on the E6 motorway between Malmö and Helsingborg on Wednesday evening.

At least seven were taken to hospital and three of them – two adults and a child – were initially described as fighting for their lives. However, in the early hours of Thursday police confirmed that their status had improved and their injuries were no longer life-threatening.

Three cars and a truck were involved in the accident, according to police, but it was not immediately clear what caused it. 

Nine ambulances and nine fire engines were called out to the scene, reports public broadcaster SVT.

Swedish vocabulary: a pile-up – en masskrock

King declares landslide-hit motorway fit for use

Further north on the E6, King Carl XVI Gustaf reopened the motorway at Stenungsund, where the road has been closed to traffic since it was destroyed in a massive landslide in September last year. 

“Thankfully, no one died in the disaster,” said the King as he declared the motorway fit for use. Instead of cutting a ribbon, he got into a car and drove 400 metres on the newly asphalted section as national and local politicians, construction bosses and the press looked on.

The motorway is set to reopen to the public on Friday, and Stenungsund mayor Olof Lundberg was pleased.

“You have to give the Swedish Transport Administration credit this time for having worked as fast as they could. It’s a huge relief that the E6 is being reopened much earlier than they originally said,” he was quoted by Swedish news agency TT as saying.

Residents of the village of Ucklum, through which traffic has been rerouted during the closure, are also said to be relieved. The E6 is an important link between Sweden and Norway and is used by a lot of cars and heavy trucks.

Swedish vocabulary: a motorway – en motorväg

SJ halts trains between Malmö and Copenhagen this summer

Swedish train operator SJ won’t run any trains between Malmö and Copenhagen between July 3rd and August 4th due to a shortage of trains, reports regional newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad (HD). 

More than 20,000 travellers are expected to be affected, and will now instead have to travel between Sweden and Denmark on the regional Öresund trains. They will still be able to use their already purchased SJ tickets, however.

It’s unclear how crowded the Öresund trains will get during the summer, with bosses at public transport operator Skånetrafiken saying that the trains have a lot of capacity so it shouldn’t be too noticeable, and train staff telling HD that trains are already full as things stand.

Swedish vocabulary: a train – ett tåg

Northvolt warns work permit salary threshold could jeopardise Sweden’s green transition

Sweden’s minimum salary threshold for work permits has increased by almost 120 percent in less than a year, and there are plans to increase it again to the median salary next summer.

Battery manufacturers Northvolt warns that this could stop the company from hiring and retaining key workers.

“Northvolt’s extensive labour requirements in northern Sweden cannot currently be met by permanently established workers in Sweden or within the EU,” the company wrote in a response to the government’s proposal to raise the salary threshold to the median salary, currently 35,600 kronor.

“This applies in particular to machine operators and technicians, whose minimum wages under collective bargaining agreements are lower than the median wage, and therefore are particularly vulnerable in this context.”

Swedish vocabulary: to hire – att anställa