The Old Country Newsletter – Tragedy in Stockholm

A Routine Commute Turned Tragic in Stockholm Last Friday

Three people were killed and three more injured when a double-decker bus veered onto a crowded sidewalk outside Stockholm’s Östra station on November 14, turning a normal Friday rush hour into one of the city’s most devastating public-transport accidents in years.

Just after 3 p.m., in the late-afternoon swirl of commuters heading home for the weekend, a bus on the Östra station–Vaxholm route suddenly left the roadway and shot up onto the sidewalk. Witnesses describe a scene that unfolded in seconds: the bus plowed through a bus shelter, continued past storefronts, and barreled roughly 40 meters before crashing into a tree and finally stopping against a pole. Six pedestrians were hit. Three women, aged 55 to 65 — all on ordinary errands — lost their lives. Flowers and candles now line the route the bus carved across the pavement.

Early eyewitness accounts painted a picture of confusion, fear, and disbelief. Several described hearing a loud crack before sirens filled Valhallavägen. One witness said the bus shelter “was almost pulverized.” Others watched as police led the stunned driver out of the vehicle—shaken, but without obvious injuries—while emergency crews tended to victims on the ground.

Police initially detained the driver on suspicion of gross negligence, but investigators now say nothing suggests the crash was intentional. The charges have since been adjusted to causing death and bodily injury by negligence, and the driver has been released pending further investigation. Authorities have also said the driver underwent medical examinations to determine whether illness played a role.

Two of the injured remain hospitalized in stable condition, while police continue working to contact relatives of one of the victims who lived abroad. As Stockholm grapples with the tragedy, transit officials say they’re reviewing safety systems—including geofencing, which was active on the bus—to understand how a routine route turned catastrophic.

As Sweden’s oldest political party gathers for what may be its final national meeting as a parliamentary force, leader Simona Mohamsson looks set to win the battle in front of her — but the deeper conflict defining the Liberals is still far from resolved.

For months, the Liberals’ most persistent tension has been on full display: how to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats (SD) without losing either their ideological identity or their remaining voter base. Mohamsson’s middle-path stance — yes to continued cooperation under the Tidö Agreement, no to SD ministers — has frustrated both wings of the party. Behind closed doors, some Liberals even whisper that a spell in opposition might be preferable, giving the party space to escape the SD question and attempt a long-term rebuild toward 2030.

Commentators warn this is wishful thinking. Across Swedish media, analysts describe the moment as existential for a party that has spent decades reshaping its ideology to keep pace with the times. TV4’s Ulf Kristoffersson calls the current split the Liberals’ deepest yet — one that has also annoyed the Moderates, potentially dampening their willingness to provide the tactical votes the Liberals increasingly depend on. SVT’s Elisabeth Marmorstein argues Mohamsson’s government stance is difficult to explain but predicts members will ultimately rally behind her, given the unprecedented threat of falling below the parliamentary threshold. Ekot’s Fredrik Furtenbach believes Mohamsson is trying to steady nervous center-right voters by emphasizing that Liberalerna is still a reliable liberal-conservative partner, distinct from its Tidö allies.

If Mohamsson wins this weekend, it will be a victory measured in inches. The real test — defining what Sweden’s oldest party stands for in 2025 and beyond — remains unsolved.