Several people were killed and others injured when a bus rammed into a bus stop queue in central Stockholm during Friday’s afternoon rush hour, police said.

Shortly after the crash, images in Swedish media showed a swarm of police, ambulances and emergency vehicles at the scene, with rescue crews crouched down along the underside of the double-decker bus, appearing to help people trapped underneath.

“There are both injured and deceased people in the incident. Police are for the moment not commenting on the number, gender or ages of the victims,” said a police statement.

Health authorities spokeswoman Michelle Marcher told AFP that two seriously injured people had been transported to the hospital.

Police spokesperson Nadya Norton said the cause of the accident was still unknown.

“The investigation will have to determine what happened. It’s too early to say and I don’t want to speculate,” she told AFP.

She said the bus driver had been arrested and a manslaughter investigation had been opened as a matter of routine.

“We need to question him, then we’ll see if he’s going to be released or detained,” Norton said.

Police received the first reports of the accident at 3:23pm (1423 GMT).

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his thoughts were with the victims and their families.

“I have received the tragic news that several people have died and been injured at a bus stop in central Stockholm,” he wrote on X.

“People who might have been on their way home to family, friends, or a quiet evening at home. We do not yet know the cause, but right now my thoughts are primarily with those affected and their loved ones.”

‘Chaos’

A woman identified as Michelle Mac Key told the daily Expressen she stepped off another bus at the scene just after the accident happened.

“I crossed the road and saw the double-decker bus that had mowed down an entire bus stop queue,” she said.

People were screaming and trying to help the injured.

She said she saw both injured and dead people lying on the ground.

“There must have been more people under the bus,” she said.

A nurse by profession, she and another man, who was a doctor, offered their help to the police when they arrived.

“They told us to stand next to the dead bodies,” she said.

“I thought it was an exercise at first. That maybe they were dolls. It was so unreal. Chaos.”

Another woman who lives in the neighbourhood told daily Aftonbladet she heard a loud crash.

“I was lying in bed in my room, heard a loud crash and I heard several people scream. I ran to the window and saw a bus that had crashed and several people lying on the ground,” said the woman, who was not identified by name.

Two hours after the crash, a section of the busy Valhallavagen avenue was still blocked off. Police technicians were working at the scene but emergency vehicles had left.