It was just after 9:30 a.m. on December 11, 2023 that a construction elevator in Sundbyberg northwest of Stockholm collapsed from a height of about 30 meters.
Five men aged 25 to 63, one Swede and four foreign nationals, died, while two more people were on their way into the elevator but escaped the collapse.
The investigation later showed that several screw connections, which were supposed to hold the different sections of the elevator mast together, were missing. According to prosecutor Lars Ågren, the assembly company's own checks also failed.
"All four screw connections between two of the sections were missing. In addition, another screw connection was missing in a different section, and another was incorrectly installed. It should have been discovered, but they didn't," he says.
Denies wrongdoing
Last fall, two fitters and the CEO of the company were charged with serious workplace safety offences. The trial, which will be held in Attunda District Court, begins on Tuesday.
Lars Ågren does not want to preempt the proceedings, but says he will demand a prison sentence, in addition to a corporate fine of seven million kronor.
"The company undertook to assemble the lift and must make sure it is screwed together properly. It's that simple, and they haven't done that," says Lars Ågren.
The three defendants deny any wrongdoing.
"My client installs countless elevators every year and is usually the first to go up afterwards. So he takes this very seriously," says Mikael Fredblad, the defense attorney for one of the defendants.
"As he remembers it, they handled all the bolts correctly. That is our starting point."
Possible sabotage?
During questioning, both fitters instead admitted that someone else may have unscrewed the screw connections afterwards.
"It's good that all the details are now being reviewed. Then we'll see. There will always be hypotheses about other alternatives. But we will have to take that into account," says Mikael Fredblad.
Prosecutor Lars Ågren denies that it could be sabotage.
"There is nothing to indicate that. We have photos from four different occasions in November that show these screw connections were missing. Then the company comes up on December 5 and says they have checked all the screws."
Correction: In a previous version there was an inaccuracy about where the trial is being held.
