Last Friday, Stockholm experienced an attack, in which a man hijacked a truck and drove it into Drottninggatan, Stockholm’s busiest street, killing five people in the process. This horrendous events filled Sweden with sorrow and compassion for those who were injured, and those who grieved. Flower after flower has been placed in front of the Åhlens City building, where the attack ended. On Sunday, around 20,000 of people gathered at Sergelstorg for a love manifestation. At 14:53,the time of the attack, a minute’s silence  was observed. At the manifestation, Sweden’s Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, said, “A whole country is united in grief, anger and resolve.”

This event had a ripple effect on the entire city, as almost all trains and buses were stopped for several hours. This left thousands of people to walk home from the city and other hundreds stranded. Students at SIS spent hours on Friday in school, waiting for parents to pick them up. Some people did not get home until almost 10pm. Instead, students gathered together at school to watch movies and eat food as they waited for their parents to arrive.

At the time of the event, although panic quickly spread, students tried to remain calm while teachers reacted quickly, making sure that all students were safe and accounted for, ensuring that no one left without their parents. Students were allowed to leave with parents of their friends, but authorisation was needed from their parents in order to do so. This proved problematic as the phone lines throughout the city went down, due to the vast amount of people trying to get in contact with family and friends at the same time. Telia said that their utilisation of the network rose to 100%. As a result, it was quite difficult for students to get in touch with parents, but luckily everyone managed in the end. Talking to some students, it is evident that there was a mixture of confusion and fear during those few hours on Friday as they checked the news checked constantly, waiting anxiously for any updates on the situation.

Over the past few days since the attack, Stockholm has shown that terror will not win and it has brought out the best of the city and its citizens. On Friday afternoon, when many were left stranded in the city, others opened up their homes by sharing #openstockholm on social media. The City Council also opened its doors to its citizens at different locations throughout the city. All week people have been placing flowers at various locations in Drottninggatan, in front of Åhlens, and on the stairs of Sergelstorg. Others have written messages on the board that was put up where the truck crashed. On Monday, there was a national minute of silence at 12:00 pm during which students, in their individual classes, honoured the victims this horrible tragedy.

Our school community was emotionally struck by this event, and we will stand strong together with the rest of Sweden to fight these acts of hatred and terrorism.  An SIS student, Sebastian D, said, “Sweden is a resilient country that will not let terror win, and it has brought the Swedish people together.” It has brought the Sweden together, and it has brought SIS together.