Cops defuse bomb in Norway, arrest man

Police in the Norwegian capital of Oslo said they neutralised an explosive device found in a busy area of downtown Oslo and said they had arrested a suspect.

Police Chief Vidar Pedersen confirmed that the device, initially described as “bomb-like,” was an explosive. The police Twitter account said it had been defused or neutralised.

Police would not give any details about the suspect, or further information about the device.

Pedersen said the device was found on the street just outside the Groenland underground station on Saturday night, and police swept through the area to remove people from bars and restaurants.

“Every restaurant was being closed,” said 23-year-old Malin Myrvold, who witnessed the scene from a fourth-story window. “You could see cops in heavy armour going in every store and restaurant.

“We were trying to see what was going on. The police were screaming at us to get back inside and stay where we were,” she added by telephone.

Norway was put on high alert after neighbouring Sweden suffered a truck attack in the capital that killed four people and injured 15. The suspect in Friday’s attack, a 39-year-old native of Uzbekistan, has been arrested. It was unclear whether he was also a Swedish citizen or resident or even how long he’d been in the country.

The Norwegian incident happened less than a mile from the government buildings that were damaged in a deadly bomb attack carried out by right wing extremist Anders Breivik in 2011. That bomb and a subsequent gun massacre killed a total of 77 people.

The suspected Stockholm truck attacker had shown interest in extremist groups and was facing deportation after being refused residency, Swedish police said on Sunday.

A second suspect has meanwhile been formally placed under arrest in connection with the attack that killed four people and injured 15 others, the Stockholm district court said.

The news came as thousands of people gathered to honour the dead and to stand against terrorism.

The first suspect, identified only as a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan who was arrested hours after Friday’s attack, is suspected of having sped a stolen beer truck several hundred metres down the bustling pedestrian street Drottninggatan in the heart of Stockholm. The vehicle mowed down shoppers before slamming into the facade.