Sweden truck attack was act of terror, officials say
A hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians at a Stockholm department store Friday, killing four people.
A hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians at a central Stockholm department store on Friday, killing four people, wounding 15 others and sending screaming shoppers fleeing in panic in what Sweden’s prime minister called a terrorist attack.
A nationwide manhunt was launched and one person was arrested following the latest use of a vehicle as a weapon in Europe.
Nearby buildings in the heart of the capital — including the country’s parliament — were locked down for hours, and the main train station and several large malls were evacuated.
“Sweden has been attacked,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a nationally televised press conference. “This indicates that it is an act of terror.”
Later Friday night, Lofven laid a bouquet of red roses and lit a candle near the site of the attack.
“The country is in a state of shock,” he said. “The aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy. But such a goal will never be achieved in Sweden.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Police arrested a man in Marsta, a northern Stockholm suburb close to the city’s international airport, as a possible suspect.
The stolen beer truck traveled for more than 500 yards along a main pedestrian street known as the Drottninggatan before it smashed into a crowd outside the upscale Ahlens department store about 3 p.m. It came to rest in the entrance to the building. TV footage showed smoke coming out of the store after the crash.
“People were screaming and running in all directions,” said Brandon Sekitto, who was in his car nearby. “(The truck) drove straight into the Ahlens entrance.”
“I saw the driver, a man in black who was light around the face,” Brandon told Swedish daily Dagens Nyh et er .“Some women were screaming, ‘Run! Run!’”
Late into the night, forensic experts in full white suits could be seen working on the truck, collecting evidence.
Although there was initial confusion on the number of victims, police told reporters in the evening that four people were killed and 15 wounded, nine seriously.
Authorities evacuated the city’s nearby Central Station, a hub for regional trains and the subway system. All trains
Truck attack in Stockholm
A hijacked truck plowed into a crowd of people outside a busy department store in central Stockholm causing deaths and injuries. to and from the main station were halted and several large shopping mall sin Stockholm were shut down. Sweden’s national theater, Dramaten, canceled three performances Friday evening.
Jan Evensson of the Stockholm police told a news conference that the man who was arrested looked like the person depicted in a surveillance camera photo that police released earlier. He said police were “particularly interested” in him.
The Swedish brewery Spendrups said one of its trucks had been hijacked just a few blocks from the crash scene earlier Friday.
“It is one of our delivery trucks,” a Spendrups spokesman told the Swedish news agency TT.
The beer company’s driver was not injured, he said.
Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf cut short a visit to Brazil to return home and sent the royal family’s condolences to the families of the victims.