Sweden honors truck attack victims

Thousands hold minute of silence where incident took place

Swedes observed a minute of silence across the country on Monday for the victims of last week’s truck attack by a Uzbek man whom police believe was a jihadist sympathizer.

A huge crowd gathered solemnly outside the Ahlens department store at the corner of the Drottninggatan pedestrian street, where a stolen beer truck plowed down shoppers before slamming into the store’s facade, killing four people and injuring 15.

Under grey and rainy skies, the crowd observed a minute of silence at noon, many visibly moved with tears streaming down their cheeks as a sea of flowers and candles covered the ground.

Many thanked and hugged police officers guarding the scene, some even offering them flowers, for their widelypraised response to the attack.

At the same time, an official ceremony was held outside Stockholm’s City Hall, attended by Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, King Carl XVI Gustaf and most of the royal family, and Stockholm mayor Karin Wanngard.

“We will never give in to violence. We will never let terror prevail,” Wanngard said. “Stockholm will remain an open and tolerant city.”

To the families of the victims, Lofven said: “You are not alone, we are thinking of you. All of Sweden stands with you.”

The motive of Friday’s attack remains unknown, but the method resembled previous rampages using vehicles in Nice, Berlin and London, all of them claimed by the Islamic State ( IS) group.

Police are continuing their investigation into the main suspect, identified as a 39- year- old Uzbek who went underground when he received a deportation order after his permanent residency application was rejected.

Swedish media have identified the suspect as Rakhmat Akilov, a construction worker and father of four.

The far- right Sweden Democratic party, which until now has refrained from comment on the attack, on Monday blasted the authorities’ failure to deport the suspect.

“It’s a huge scandal if it’s true,” party leader Jimmie Akesson told the Aftonbladet daily. His party won almost 13 percent of votes in the 2014 legislative election.

“We need to detain people when there is a risk they will go underground, and there appear to be around 10,000 to 15,000 cases,” Akesson said.