Marica, 73, was in the hospital – firefighters then broke down her door: "Shocked"

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Marica, 73, who lives in an ABK apartment in central Kristianstad, felt feverish and had a cough.

She decided to take a taxi to the hospital and it turned out that she had developed pneumonia. She was admitted to the hospital, given a drip and a course of penicillin.

Just a few hours later on the same afternoon, she received a shocking call from ABK.

– They told me that they had broken down my door and that an ambulance and the emergency services were called. I didn't understand why – I was in hospital.

The reason the door was broken open was that an acquaintance of Marica's had called her intercom, but there was no reply; she then pretended to be her concerned sister and asked a young man passing by for help, says Marica.

Her door is still damaged and she is now wondering how all of this could happen; why no one contacted her before they decided to break down the door, and why no one checked if the woman was really her sister.

– I don't understand why the ambulance listened to her instead of calling the healthcare provider and checking if I lying here first – before any doors were broken down, says Marica and wonders:

Decisions to break doors open are always made by the police or emergency services.

Jonas Rosenberg, Head of Communications at ABK commented on the incident.

– The emergency services contacted us first to see if it was possible to enter the apartment without breaking in. So our property manager was there at the request of the emergency services to check whether the tenant put a key in the key tube as we do not have any master keys. As there was no key in the tube, the emergency services decided to break open the door, he says.

ABK has previously had cases where the police, by mistake, broke open doors because they suspected a crime, and ABK then claimed damages for the cost of a door replacement. However, they have not claimed damages when doors have been broken open because they suspected a danger to someone’s life and health.

– So we are responsible for the cost of the door in this case, says Jonas Rosenberg.