On June 25, 2023, at 11:37 am, the Jetline roller coaster at Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm, Sweden, began emitting ominous sounds. Over the next 12 seconds, the steel structure of the ride shook violently twice. Visitors on the ground below looked up in alarm as panic spread among those on the ride. Surveillance footage captured the harrowing moments as several passengers were ejected from the coaster cars, plunging to the ground below in full view of horrified onlookers. Emergency services were inundated with calls, the first reaching SOS Alarm at 11:38 am.
First responders arrived to a chaotic scene of severe injuries and one fatality. A woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and a criminal investigation was launched within an hour, focusing on manslaughter, causing bodily harm, and endangering others. Police described hearing screams from the air as they approached the mangled coaster, with trapped passengers crying for help. The rescue operation commenced swiftly, prioritizing the evacuation of those still stranded on the ride. Within approximately an hour, the last trapped individual was brought to safety.
As investigators reviewed surveillance footage, they pieced together the events leading up to the tragedy. The video showed the victims, including the deceased woman, queuing for the Jetline on a sunny day. Family members of the deceased woman, who chose not to ride, were also visible in the footage, standing a short distance away from the line. The footage also captured the fall of one man who managed to cling to a beam of the coaster’s structure while his wife suffered severe injuries in the fall. This man was rescued approximately 20 minutes later using a fire truck’s ladder, a challenging operation due to the beam’s difficult-to-reach location.
The physical examination of the crash site revealed two sets of wheels that had detached from the coaster train. One set landed on the asphalt below, while the other landed on the roof of a nearby depot. Photographs taken by investigators showed a clean break in the suspension arm of one of the wheel sets – a critical component that connected the wheels to the coaster car. This broken suspension arm would later become the focus of the investigation, much like the bow visor of the Estonia ferry disaster, a single point of failure with devastating consequences.
The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority’s final report confirmed that the primary cause of the derailment was the fracture of a suspension arm on the front car’s wheel assembly. Police technicians also documented distinct scrape marks on the Jetline’s steel structure, indicating a severe malfunction. These marks, described as being caused by a hard, sharp object under pressure against the rails, further corroborated the catastrophic failure of the suspension arm. The images of the detached wheel sets clearly depicted the broken suspension arm, highlighting the critical nature of this component’s failure.
Ultimately, the investigation culminated in charges against Gröna Lund and two other companies, totaling 18 million kronor (approximately $1.6 million USD) in corporate fines. Gröna Lund was fined 12 million kronor, while the other two companies faced fines of 3 million kronor each. The charges included gross negligence causing death. The prosecutor stated unequivocally that the accident would have been prevented had the companies adhered to existing regulations. The tragedy left lasting physical and emotional scars on the survivors and the families of the victims, underscoring the importance of rigorous safety standards and vigilant oversight in the amusement park industry.
