A Norwegian runaway tram crashes into a shop

By Pierre-Henry DeshayesAFP

A tram derailed and hit a shop in central Oslo. It was a rare accident that injured at least four people and caused panic among passersby.

The accident occurred late in the morning in the bustling shopping district of the Norwegian capital.

The tram, which should have turned left at the intersection, for some unknown reason jumped the rails and continued straight, hitting head-on deep into an electronics store on the corner selling Apple products.

“Three people on the tram were injured and one person was outside,” Anders Ronning, the police chief at the scene, told AFP.

“No one was seriously injured,” he said, adding that “one or two other people” went to the emergency room on their own.

He said there were “a lot of people” on the tram.

Police initially said there were 20 people on board, but some passengers had already left the scene by the time emergency services arrived.

At least one passer-by had to jump away when a tram was coming towards him.

The blue tram was stuck in the store for several hours, surrounded by broken glass and debris.

Late in the afternoon, after experts assessed the building’s stability, it was pulled out by a tow truck.

“Fortunately, there was a lot of noise from the derailment and several people (people in the store) were able to turn around and get out of the way,” Ronning said.

Julie Hogmo Madsen, 24, was sitting at the back of the tram.

“At the bend it started shaking more than usual and I realized we had derailed, and then there was a bang,” she told the Norwegian news agency NTB.

“People became slightly hysterical and started screaming all around. “I ran to the front of the tram, found the person who needed help and helped him get out,” she said.

“Massive Accident”

Another witness described a “surreal” scene.

“It’s just surreal,” Andre Norheim told the daily Verdens Gang (VG). “If everyone got out of this unscathed, it means someone is watching over us because, to put it mildly, it was a massive accident.”

The block was cordoned off, which significantly disrupted traffic in the city center, and many police cars and ambulances arrived on site.

The tram driver was among the injured, and the police officially named him a suspect on suspicion that excessive speed was the cause of the accident.

“I don’t want to speculate,” Ronning said.

“We are working on the technical aspects to determine the cause of the accident,” he added.

The damaged building, which also houses offices, was evacuated.

-AFP