‘Everything points to a terrorist attack’
Hijacked truck rams store in Sweden, killing 4
USA TODAY STOCKHOLM At least four people were killed Friday when a large beer truck slammed into an upscale department store in a busy Stockholm pedestrian mall in what Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called an apparent “terror attack.”
The Stockholm City Council said 15 other people were wounded, nine seriously.
“Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to a terrorist attack,” Lofven said.
The prime minister said, “The country is in a state of shock.” He laid a bouquet of red roses and lit a candle near Åhlens department store, where the partially burned truck was still embedded in the entrance.
“The aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy,” he said. “But such a goal will never be achieved in Sweden.”
Late Friday, police started a preliminary investigation into suspected terrorist crimes.
Police released a blurry CCTV photo of a man they were looking for in connection with the attack. He was riding an escalator and wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt and green jacket. Late Friday, one person had been arrested, but police did not elaborate.
The incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. when the beer truck, hijacked by a masked gunman, careened down Drottninggatan (Queen Street) at high speed, leaving a trail of broken glass, tire tracks and bodies. After hitting the Åhlens department store, the truck burst into flames.
Filip Lundberg, 36, a salesperson at Buttericks, a costume store on Drottninggatan, said he saw the attack but didn’t immediately realize it could be terrorism.
“I was right in front of the truck when it came charging down. I managed to get out of the way,” Lundberg said. “We only realized exactly what had happened when there were helicopters and the police started streaming onto Drottninggatan. We locked up the store.”
After police shut down the street, Lundberg walked to a
friend’s house on a neighboring island of the archipelago that comprises the Swedish capital. He described himself as traumatized. “I’m on the verge of tears,” he said. “This is unreal.”
Alarmed officials brought central Stockholm to a virtual standstill, putting government offices on lockdown and halting buses and subways. People were ordered to stay out of the city center; thousands of workers already there had to walk home before transit service was partially restored.
It was the most significant attack in the country since December 2010, when an Iraqi-born Swede, Taimour Abdulwahab al- Abdaly, detonated two devices, including one that killed him, in central Sweden.
Leander Nordling, 66, told the Aftonbladet newspaper that he was standing in the perfume department at Åhlens when he heard a loud bang.
“It sounded like a bomb had exploded and began to smoke heavily in through the main entrance,” he said. Nordling said he and other customers and staff took shelter in a storage room.
Swedish beermaker Spendrups said its truck had been stolen Friday, the newspaper reported.
“During a delivery to (a) restaurant, and while the driver was unloading, someone jumped into the driver’s seat and drove off with it,” Spendrups communication director Marten Lyth told the TT Swedish news agency.