All five injured in building site lift crash have died, say Swedish authorities

All five people who were inside a construction site lift that crashed to the ground in Sweden have died, officials said on Tuesday.

Authorities had previously only reported that the occupants were seriously injured when the elevator plummeted 66ft (20m) in Sundbyberg, a northern suburb of the capital, Stockholm, on Monday.

The cause of the accident is still unclear and work at the site has been halted.

Gunnar Jonasson, the senior prosecutor in charge, said there is an ongoing preliminary investigation, including by the National Accident Commission, on suspicion of “work environment violations causing the death of another”.

“This is a serious incident that we are now investigating,” he said.

He added that authorities are working to identify the victims and contact their relatives.

His brief statement gave no further details.

A spokesman for the lift’s manufacturer told the Aftonbladet newspaper on Monday that that type has been used around the world for more than 20 years, and the company has never been involved in such an incident before.

Andersson Company Byggnads, the construction company that runs the site of the accident, said that all of those who died were employed by subcontractors, adding in a statement that “as the main contractor, we have a primary responsibility for safety at the workplace”.

Swedish broadcaster TV4 said that all construction elevators in Stockholm were stopped following the fatal accident.

Johan Lindholm, the national head of the Swedish Construction Workers’ Union, called 2023 “the darkest year in a very long time”.

Mr Lindholm said in a statement: “Fatalities and accidents both can and must be prevented.”