Dozens of people were injured
Bus accident in Sweden – German students on board
Updated 11/24/2025 – 02:58Reading time: 2 minutes
In snowy Sweden, a carriage carrying dozens of Erasmus students overturned – many of them from Germany.
A group of German students were involved in a serious traffic accident on a bus trip to Finnish Lapland. The bus with a total of 57 passengers on board overturned on Saturday morning on the E45 motorway near the town of Vilhelmina in the Swedish province of Västerbotten. This was announced by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The 53 bus passengers were exchange students at NTNU, the largest group came from Germany and were taking part in the Erasmus program. The exact number of German students on the bus is unknown. There was also no information initially about whether and how many Germans were injured. When asked, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and had been in contact with local authorities.
A spokesman for the Västerbotten region said eight people who had moderate to serious injuries were currently still being treated at local hospitals. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
Initially, 56 injured people needed to be treated, the spokesman said. Hospitals in the area are on maximum alert. Two patients also had to be flown by helicopter to a nearby clinic. During Sunday, most of the injured were released from hospital.
According to police, the cause of the accident is still unclear. Images and video footage show the crash site covered in thick snow. A Swedish Radio reporter said there was a lot of snow in the region and the roads were slippery. “It must be hard to drive in that weather.”
The tour group, organized by the Erasmus network of Norwegian Universities, traveled to Lapland on two buses chartered by a Finnish travel company. The second bus that did not crash will continue its journey to Finland as planned, NTNU said.
