Scare of the day

Cycling towards Stockholm a couple of days ago. Riding close to the fence that separates the bike path from the motorway access road. Through the shrubs I could see the truck. It was a recycling truck, loaded with three big containers. The driver was not in control of the vehicle. Driving too fast. And then one of the containers fell off the truck heading for the bike path where I was. Luckily, it landed near the fence and came to a halt there. But as you can see, the side opened. The noise was spectacular. And I saw the container coming towards me in slow motion. After gathering my thoughts, I stopped to take this photo. No sign of the driver. Two minutes later, when I was sitting on a bench nearby, I heard the first police sirens. Biking the other way a few hours later, they were still cleaning up the road.

Accident

Ammonia leak at the industrial park in Jordbro today, at a cold storage warehouse. I passed by twice, police and rescue personnel everywhere. Long queys along the roads with a hundred or so trucks that were headed to the industrial park. People were told to stay indoors in part of Haninge but the police I saw just gave me the heads up to bike through the area.

On the bike path

I always find it hard to cycle on the bike paths around Haninge when there's stolen and crashed cars blocking the way for days and days. This Alfa Romeo is doing just that near the commuter station in Jordbro. As I took the photo a concerned citizen came up and we started talking. He lived in Jordbro and presented himself as a big time complainer (and cab driver), he told me that he would inform the municipality about this.

Toast!

Scary accident of the day. Here is how it happened. The truck was parked just a few meters from the Shell station in Handen when a fire broke out in the cab where the driver was sitting. He got out OK and someone called the rescue service. The fire station is only a kilometre away so they were there in no time. When they arrived the whole truck was burning. The cargo was bread, hence my title. I talked to the driver who was a bit shocked. One of his colleagues had arrived in another truck and they were looking at the damage when I arrived. I talked to a security guard at the nearby mall and he had been a bit worried with a burning truck so close to a fillig station. As I understand it no one was injured in this accident.

Scary accident at the Mall

I have heard before about accidents were people have been killed by falling flagpoles. It has been very windy in Haninge this week, and earlier today this flagpole broke and fell to the ground near one of the entrances to the Haninge mall. The ambulance arrived just a few minutes before I took this photo. A group of people had gathered, and this police officer was trying to remove the heavy flagpole. Someone must have been badly hurt. Not sure who is responsible for looking after the flag poles, has to be the municipality or the mall. I stopped at the cafe after taking this photon where two of my friends were busy working on their laptops, so we searched online for news about this incident, but didn't find anything.

Winter Collision

A common sight this winter. A car collision. Luckily no one was injured here. The grey van came down the very icy Hammarbergsvägen in Tungelsta and the driver told me that he couldn't stop. The woman in the blue Audi was driving uphill along Allévägen, apparently talking on her cell phone. Result, a busy day for the tow truck driver, because as you can see both car had to be towed away. It took everyone involved a while to work everything out with insurance papers and phone calls. The police arrived after thirty minutes and they left when the tow truck arrived.

Explosion in Tungelsta

Suddenly we heard some kind of explosion. A few minutes later we could hear the police sirens closing in. I decided to see what was going on. It turned out to be a scary accident at an industrial estate here in Tungelsta. As I arrived to the building at Allévägen there was a lot of smoke and flames. Something like fourteen fire trucks arrived along with a lot of police and ambulances. An ambulance helicopter circled the area, but couldn't land, probably because the building housed several acetylene tanks that might explode. I had a very brief conversation with the owner of the company as he was talking to a police officer(third photo), and he told me that three people had been injured. One man who had been badly injured was taken away with the ambulance helicopter that managed to land at the soccer pitch. Police then decided to evacuate 100 homes, but later I heard that only five houses needed to be evacuated. The industrial hotel is most likely totally destroyed. Around 15 companies work from that building. Last year I met and photographed Frida Forshed who at the time was based there.

And then the roof caved in

Back in June last year I visited the old farm at Högsta for a photo-op together with my friend Jim. We had a look around the old farm and it's surroundings. The old barn is filled with interesting stuff. It belongs to Rolf Norlin and his wife. They live down the road at the Hammarby Farm. Most of the stuff in here belongs to an old guy in Handen called Engström. He left the things there some 25 years ago when the previous owner still lived at the farm. Earlier this winter the barn collapsed because of the pressure from all the snow. I was informed of that when I met and photographed Jonas back in January. And yesterday I took the bike down to Högsta for a closer look. I didn't walk into the barn as it looked a bit unsafe. I talked to Rolf last year and mentioned that he should perhaps give away the threshing machine to the agricultural museum at Berga. I hope he had time to do that. Oh, and the second photo here is a panorama made from eight photos. Shot from a hill just behind the old barn. To see a few more photos from the visit last summer check out this slideshow.

The Crew Commander and the Fire-Fighter

The Crew Commander (to the right), and one of the fire fighters. There was a fire at one of the restaurants at the mall in Handen this morning. The employees managed to stop the fire, but the fire-fighters had to go back a couple of times as there was a problem with the ventilation system. I heard the news on the radio, and when I checked my flickr friend Jim's photos he had a photo from the mall. As I arrived a few hours later fire-fighters were still at the scene. I talked a bit with the fire-fighters and the Crew Commander and they said that everything was under control.

The Inevitable

This was the old barn at the 700 year old Nödesta farm at Nedersta in Haninge. The farm land and the buildings are a leasehold estate owned by the municipality. The farmer Jan Claesson has operated the farm with his daughters for many years. This old barn has been on the brink of collapse for a few years now. Up until last fall the dog trainer Karin Mörling kept her sheep here. I'm glad she moved out in time. This was the scene at Nödesta earlier today. The barn has collapsed because of negligence and the one meter of snow we've had this winter. I have taken many photos here, the last one in May last year. Here is one with the magnificent tree and some of Karin's sheep. And here is a portrait of Karin and her sheepdog Ned, also taken at the old barn. So I guess there will be no more photo ops like when I shot the Sheep on the run here in the future.

And Then The Roof Caved In

A steel roof at a warehouse gave in to the pressure from all the snow at the Coca Cola brewery in Jordbro yesterday. At the time of the accident a few workers were up on the roof. No one was injured. The weather has been quite bad in the south of the country in the last day or so with many accidents. When the rescue services arrived they decided to evacuate the plant. The hole measured 10 by 20 meters and production at the plant was stopped. The staff was sent home for the day and the responsible construction company arrived to asses the damages. That means that at least three people that you have met here got the day off. Camilla, Stina, and Micke. From where I shot this it was impossible to see any of the damages to the plant.

Cyclist hit by car

As I was getting ready for a bike ride on Sunday I could hear the ambulance sirens nearby. A few minutes later this was the scene at Söderbyvägen in Tungelsta. A cyclist had been hit by a car. The injured cyclist looked very pale as he was lying by the side of the road. It's a two lane road and this happened near an intersection where there is a 90 degree turn. I think the driver of the car must have been speeding, and driving on the wrong side of the road when he hit the cyclist. It looked like the cyclists neck had been stabilised and I think he might have broken an arm. I stopped and talked to one of the guys from the rescue services as I took a few photos. As you can guess this shook me up a bit as I'm always out on my bike, year round.

Fire in Tungelsta

There was a fire at ålsta in tungelsta, at tungans 3-gård today. One of the few remaining greenhouse business here. Luckily it looks like the greenhouses was saved. More info later. The police asked us to move away so i went back home. The fire started in the pellet heater.

Muddy Road!

Someone has dumped a load of clay (blålera), on the asphalt road. And then quietly disappeared. This is Södertäljevägen in Tungelsta this morning. Between the station and the school, just outside the park. No one around to claim responsibility. I guess they took off when no one saw them...

Photojournalism

There was an accident in Tungelsta today. A truck overturned in an uphill climb at Manhem Hill on Södertäljevägen. Rescue services arrived to the scene finding the lorry driver stuck under the truck. Using air bags they managed to lift up the truck and remove the driver. They then lifted him onto a stretcher and carried him across the road to a field where a waiting helicopter took off for the Karolinska hospital in Stockholm. I live only a kilometre down the road and took my bike over to the scene of the accident. I mailed a few photos to the evening papers and Expressen bought and published one of my photos. The road was closed off for three hours. No news yet about the condition of the injured driver.

Traffic Accident

The road from Tungelsta to Södertälje is popular with motorcyclists. Accidents happen very often. People get killed by driving too fast on the curvy road. Yesterday as I was sitting at my computer something happened. Within minutes the intersection at the school was filled with fire fighters, ambulances and police. Then an ambulance helicopter landed on the soccer pitch. I walked over with my camera. It was a collision between a motorcycle and a truck. I took a few photos went back home and mailed them to the papers. When that was done, I went back out in time to see the helicopter fly away with the injured motorcycle driver.

Why we need the new road

Road 73, the most accident prone and dangerous road in the country. People die here in fatal accidents all the time. Construction of the new road has started and will be finished in a few years so there's probably a few more accindent waiting to happen. Shot this on my way home from a visit to the beach at Östnora. Photo taken at Utlida.

Overtaking Accident

Overtaking accident at Tungelstavägen this afternoon. The yellow car (with a woman and a couple of kids in it) was overtaking another car. The driver then had to make a sudden swerve not to collide with a meeting car and as a result drove straight into the road pole. I talked to a cyclist who himself had been overtaken by the woman in the yellow car so this must have happened just a few seconds before I came around the corner. Luckily no one looked to have been hurt.

Car Crash

I found this car upside down at Allevägen in Lida. It's a long straight stretch here. The accident happened late on Saturday. It was a cold night and the road was probably very slippery. I met the owner/driver and his friends when I shot this photo on Sunday. They didnt feel like having their photo taken for some reason. I asked the very young driver a few questions but he didnt say much. They asked me not to show the licence plate but you can never stop me. I saw a police car in the area a little later and will keep an eye on the local papers in the next few days. Bigger photo.