Bus accident

_MAL0393, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

On the ride back to Stockholm from Kittelfäll last night, our bus went off the road.

The accident was not terribly dramatic. The bus lost power and slid to a stop in the ditch beside the road. The bus was leaning about 26° but it did not topple over. We evacuated calmly and assembled outside. No one was injured.

The emergency services folks gave us a ride on a local commuter bus to the Viksjö Folkets Hus (community center), where we stayed for the next several hours. During that time, we were provided with hot & cold drinks and sandwiches. After 04.00, a replacement bus arrived. Our bus was successfully pulled out of the ditch by towtruck, and as far as I know drove to Viksjö under its own power. We moved our luggage from the original bus and completed our trip to Stockholm on the replacement bus. We arrived about 4 hours later that originally planned.

I would like to extend my thanks to the emergency services personnel who came so quickly, gave us a warm place to stay, and who did everything they could to make us feel welcome. Thanks also to the staff of Active Ski Travel, who handled the situtation professionally, and even gave us gift certificates for our next trip with them.

I captured several photos during the eventful night. The accident has also been reported in Aftonbladet and Expressen. I'll post more photos from the trip (including some actual ski photos) soon!

Update 2007-02-26 15:41 UCT – Expressen published my photo along with a slightly hyped-up article. The bus was not near a cliff or drop-off. It slid most of the way down a 2-meter deep ditch beside the road.

Update 2007-02-27 07:46 UCT – The free paper Stockholm City published the photo in today's printed edition. It's just too bad they didn't bother checking the address in the photo credit. Instead of including the address to my blog, they included a similar address that points to a blog that hasn't been updated in 4 years.

Update 2007-03-05 18:38 UCT – Expressen had agreed to pay me 700 SEK for the photo. Today I received 444 SEK from the paper, and that was the amount before tax was taken out.