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SAAB

‘Totally overwhelming’: voices from Trollhättan

Saab sale sparks delight in Trollhättan in western Sweden, home to some 3,400 Saab employees.

“We’ll wait until the weekend to celebrate but for now we can revel in this.”

Gert-Inge Andersson, Social Democrat and municipal commissioner, Trollhättan.

“This means we can now send home the liquidators.”

Annette Hellgren, head of labour group Unionen’s local Saab chapter.

“It feels really great right now, wonderful that it worked out. It has been a long and winding road to say the least.”

“It’s not going to be a bed of roses and we shouldn’t be under any illusions. But now Saab has a stable owner and I reckon we’re going to be a danger to our competitors.”

Paul Åkerlund, head of trade union IF Metall’s local Saab chapter.

“Mentally there has been a sense of resignation that this wasn’t going to work out. It’s totally overwhelming, a bit hard to grasp that it’s true.”

“We’ve been planning for both a wind-down and a restart. We’ve had both a red and a green button so to speak. Now we’re going to push the green button and hit the accelerator.”

“Having them [Spyker] as a new owner feels very liberating. They possess a combination of an entrepreneurial spirit and an ability to nurture and develop a brand that suits Saab perfectly. With Spyker as owner, Saab will be able to release all its power and know-how.”

Mats Fägerhag, Saab’s head of technical development.

“It’s great news for everybody who works for Saab, I’m very pleased for them. But we know too little about the details regarding their [Spyker’s] future plans for Saab.”

Martin Sköld, auto industry expert, Stockholm School of Economics.

“It’s an incredible relief. Now begins a new era and there’s a lot of work left to do. But it’s work with a focus on the future and it can be carried out in a positive spirit.”

Stefan Löfven, chairman of trade union IF Metall.

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TROLLHÄTTAN

Trollhättan remembers school attack victims

Hundreds of people on Saturday turned out for a torchlight procession in the small town of Trollhättan in southwestern Sweden to honour the victims of last year’s deadly school attack there.

Trollhättan remembers school attack victims
'It was an attack on all of Sweden,' Education Minister Gustav Fridolin said. Photo: Thomas Johansson/ TT

Three people were killed in an attack that shocked Sweden as a masked, sword-wielding assailant entered the school, stabbing students and teachers who appeared to be of foreign origin. Several people were also injured. The attacker, 21-year-old Anton Lundin Pettersson, was then shot dead by police.

“It was an attack on all of Sweden,” Education Minister Gustav Fridolin said as the procession ended outside the school.

In the week running up to the one-year anniversary, students of the school had made thousands of postcards in memory of the teacher, pupil and teacher aide who were killed in the assault.

A police investigation has showed that Lundin had planned the attack, which lasted around 10 minutes, after being inspired by racist websites.

A teenage student told The Local at the time that many people at the school at first thought it was some kind of a prank.

“I was in a classroom with my class when one of my classmates’ sisters called her to warn her that there was a murderer at the school. So we locked the door to the classroom, but our teacher was still outside in the corridor.”

“We wanted to warn him, so a few of us went outside and then I saw the murderer, he was wearing a mask and had a sword. Our teacher got stabbed.”

“The murderer started chasing me, I ran into another classroom. If I had not run, I would have been murdered. I’m feeling really scared. Everyone’s scared here.”

Trollhättan is an industrial town with around 50,000 residents.