Hampus Jakobsson, 23, would “trample winter road” over a marsh.
But the excavator he sat in went through the ice on a pond.
He couldn’t get up.
– At night, you have woken up and thought of the abominable that Hampus needed to be with, says his mother Kristin.
On Monday, the verdict on work environment crimes involves the negligence of another’s death comes.
It was in December 2023 that 23-year-old Hampus Jakobsson from Dorotea worked for one of the forest company SCA’s contractors in the forests outside Solberg in the northwestern part of Örnsköldsvik municipality.
He and a colleague took turns running a scooter and excavator. The mission was to “pedal winter road” over a marsh so that it would hold for forest machines to run on.
But for some reason, the excavator ended up on the edge of a small pond next to the marsh where it went through the ice.
Hampus managed to get out of the cab.
But not out of the pond.
The pond was not marked
SCA’s subcontractor has been prosecuted in Ångermanland’s right of district for work environment crimes, including negligence to the death of another.
The approximately 20 times 30 meter pond had neither been marked in the terrain nor on the map base sent to Hampus Jakobsson before work, according to the indictment.
If it had been done, or otherwise clearly shown how wide the trampling of the marsh road would be in relation to where the pond was, Hampus Jakobsson probably had not died, says the prosecutor.
Furthermore, the suspected subcontractor had hired both private individuals and Hampus Jakobsson’s company without SCA knowing about it which is in violation of the agreement, according to the prosecution. It has been an important issue to investigate for the parents.
On Monday, they will be in the case.
Found after a day
It went over a day after the accident before Hampus’s body was found.
The parents were present during the search effort and helped pull the son out of the awake.
Subsequently, they have followed each step in the legal process.
– We have read about similar accidents and taken part in all the preliminary investigation material. We have asked lots of questions. The thoughts have spun all the hours of the day, says his mother Kristin Jakobsson.
“Horror and panic”
About the nights, Hampus’s parents have imagined the son’s last minutes of life.
– Trapped in an excavator, which in a moment can be down into a six meter deep pond and overturns to the left side. In a second, everything becomes pitch black with icy water that rushes into the cab, which falls under the ice. Hampus fights and gets out of the cab. What a panic and what fear, says Kristin Jakobsson.
They hope for a convict. The hope is that the Swedish Work Environment Authority and the police will receive more resources for preventive work.
– Then Hampus and we will be reduced and hopefully such a terrible accident will never occur again. Security work must be given the highest priority and agreements must of course be followed.
