Runaway Trolley Kills 13, Hurts 30 in Swedish City

A two-car trolley lost its electric power in a storm and hurtled backward down a hill Thursday, killing 13 people and injuring 30 as it crashed into cars and pedestrians, authorities said.

The tram had been evacuated shortly before the accident in Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city, on the southwestern coast. Most of the victims had been waiting at a trolley stop at the bottom of the hill.

“People ran in panic from the tram stop when they saw the tram rushing down the slope,” said a witness, Gunnar Rosenqvist. “When it hit there was a burst of people everywhere.”

A policeman raced his car in front of the runaway trolley, warning people out of its way as it careened down the hill at about 50 miles an hour.

Bibbi Wopenka, head of information for the Goteborg streetcar service, said the trolley had been halted at an intersection because its electrical power lines were knocked out during a storm.

She said a decision was then made to send it backward down the slope and take it out of service.

“Something happened and the tram ran backward down the slope” for over half a mile, Wopenka said.