A tram has careered into a store in central Oslo after coming off its rails, in an incident that left at least four people injured and caused panic among passersby.
The accident happened in the late morning in a bustling commercial neighbourhood of the Norwegian capital.
The tram, which should have made a left turn at a crossing, jumped the rails and continued straight ahead, its front section crashing deep into an electronics retailer on the corner selling Apple products.
“Three people onboard the tram were injured and another person outside,” said Anders Ronning, the head of police operations at the scene.
“No one is described as being seriously injured,” he said, adding that “one or two other people” had gone to the emergency room on their own.
He said there were “a lot of people onboard” the tram.
Police had initially said there were 20 people onboard, but some passengers had already left the scene by the time emergency services arrived.
At least one passerby had to jump out of the way when the tram came speeding towards him.
Several hours later, the blue tram was still stuck in the store, surrounded by shattered glass and debris.
“Thankfully, a derailment makes a lot of noise and several [people in the store] had time to turn around and get out of the way,” Ronning said.
Julie Hogmo Madsen, 24, was seated in the back of the tram. “It started to shake more than usual in the turn and I understood we had derailed – and then it went ’bang’,” she told the Norwegian the news agency NTB.
“People became a little hysterical and began screaming all around. I ran to the front of the tram and found someone who needed help and I helped them get out,” she said.
“It’s just surrealistic,” Andre Norheim told the daily Verdens Gang. “If everyone came out of this unharmed it means there’s someone watching over us, because it was a powerful crash, to put it mildly.”
The block was cordoned off, disrupting traffic in the city centre, with many police cars and ambulances at the scene.
The driver of the tram was among the injured and police have formally declared him a suspect, amid suspicions that excessive speed caused 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. The tram will not be removed until experts determine the stability of the building’s bearing walls and measures have been taken to prevent it from collapse.
