Explosion in Kvillebäcken – How daily life carries on amidst the unease

There’s a strange feeling waking up in Kvillebäcken today. The sky over Hisingen is just as grey as usual, the trams are running on time at Hjalmar Brantingsplatsen stop, and yet something feels different. Last night, there was a real bang. An explosion near a row of houses has left its mark, both on the buildings and on people's minds. Normally, the biggest worry around here is whether you'll make it to Friskis&Svettis before the evening class, or if you can get an appointment at Capio rehab for that niggling shoulder. But last night, it was about something else entirely.

The police cordoned off the area early, and forensics have been working through the morning to secure evidence. For those of us who live here, or move through the area daily, it all feels unreal. You think about the kids heading to school, about everyone going to work at the local supermarket or hopping on the tram into the city centre. At the same time, it's almost bizarre how quickly everyday life tries to reassert itself. Just a stone's throw from the cordons, Flexmassage Kvillebäcken on Gamla Tuvevägen is open for business as usual. Inside, it still smells of soothing oils, and in the lounge with its comfy armchairs, someone is waiting for their booked deep tissue massage. Life goes on, even when it's shaken.

Finding comfort in the ordinary – from rehab to dentist visits

The strange thing about an event like this is how it brings everything into sharp focus. Suddenly, those mundane things you take for granted become markers of security. Take Folktandvården Kvillebäcken on Borstbindaregatan, for instance. I know they're open until 7 this evening, as they are Monday to Thursday. Usually, 25 people work there, spread across nine treatment rooms, dealing with everything from filling cavities to testing new digital tech in collaboration with the development clinic. For patients booked in for a check-up this afternoon, it's probably a relief to step into that bright, airy space and focus on something as basic as a scale and polish. Right now, a root canal might feel like a smaller deal than what went bang last night.

It's the same story with rehab and exercise. Capio rehab and Friskis&Svettis are the kinds of places that are central to so many people's routines. You go there to get stronger, to recover from an injury, or just to clear your head after work. The need to look after yourself, physically and mentally, maybe becomes even clearer when the world outside feels a bit unsteady. You need to work with your body, sweat a little, or just be pampered.

What we know now – and how we're getting on

Right now, things are calm, from what I can gather. The police are investigating, and those of us here have to trust they're doing their job. The important thing to remember is that Kvillebäcken is so much more than the headlines from one single night. This area is full of people going to work, keeping appointments, and looking out for each other.

Here are a few of the places that keep turning, no matter what happens:

• Friskis&Svettis: For anyone who needs to run off the anxiety or lift the weight off their mind for a while.
• Flexmassage Kvillebäcken: Ideal if you're carrying tension in your shoulders and neck after a restless night. They always ask "How are you?" when you arrive – a question that probably carries a bit more weight today.
• Folktandvården: A reminder that we keep looking after our health, even when things get rocky.
• Capio rehab: For everyone in the middle of healing who needs to keep moving forward, regardless.

It's easy to focus on the bang itself, the explosion and the police work. That's the news, the drama. But for those of us who are actually here, who have Kvillebäcken as part of our everyday, it's something else that sticks with you. It's the contrast. Knowing that just a few hundred metres from a crime scene, someone is sitting in an armchair getting a massage, someone else is lifting weights at the gym, and another person is in the dentist's waiting room flicking through a magazine. It's that ordinary, everyday resilience that means a place like this will get back up again.