4 dead in Stockholm truck terror attack
EUROPE’S big cities are braced for an upsurge in terror outrages after at least four people were killed in a truck attack in Stockholm yesterday.
It was reported last night a man was arrested and claimed responsibility.
The hijacked beer lorry smashed into shoppers, including a child in a pram, before it was driven at speed into a crowded department store.
As the cab burst into flames at least one terrorist fled and there were unconfirmed reports of shots being fired.
Crowds ran for their lives as officers chased a suspect into the city’s main railway station. The transport hub was put on lock down as armed officers scoured the area.
Last night police issued an international alert for the prime suspect.
Escaped
Police chief Mats Lofving said it was vital detectives track down the bearded man wearing a green jacket with a grey hood and white shoes.
Mr Lofving, head of national operations, added: “We don’t know whether this incident is isolated or whether we can expect more.”
It is not known if the bearded man was a lone wolf or there were others in the truck who escaped.
Swedish police last night confirmed the man arrested was detained in the north of the Swedish capital.
Police spokesman Towe Hagg said: “We have a person who is arrested who may have connections to the event in Stockholm earlier today.”
The emergency services last night confirmed 15 people were injured. Nine victims were critically injured in hospital and there were fears the death toll might rise.
The carnage in the Swedish capital was a grim echo of recent vehicle attacks in Nice, Berlin and London.
Just over two weeks ago Khalid Masood, 52, murdered four people when he drove a car at speed at pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
He then hacked a police officer to death before he was shot dead.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said yesterday’s outrage bore all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.
Police in neighbouring Norway and Denmark were on high alert with extra armed patrols.
Specialist troops in all three countries were put on standby. European leaders
sent messages of sympathy and pledged their support in the fight against terrorism.
London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Once again, it looks like we have seen a despicable act of terrorism aimed at harming innocent people and attacking our shared values of democracy, freedom, and tolerance.
“Londoners know how it feels to suffer from senseless and cowardly terrorism.
“We share the same steely determination with the people of Stockholm that we will never allow terrorists to succeed. “We will never be cowed by terrorism. “London stands united with Stockholm.”
Witnesses told how they saw the driver of the beer truck pull a balaclava over his head and face shortly before setting off around 3pm.
He drove through several streets then accelerated towards the Ahlens store, smashing into victims.
The lorry smashed into a bollard before crashing into a pillar supporting the upper floors of the store.
Shopper Jan Granroth said: “We were inside a shoe store and heard something and then people started to scream.”
Cowardly
Passers-by initially flocked to the scene before “scattering like ants” amid fears the burning truck was about to detonate.
Photographs and mobile phone images taken in the immediate aftermath showed bodies lying in the street.
Witness Annevi Peterson said: “I heard the noise, I heard the screams, I saw the people.
“Just outside the store, there was a dead dog, the owner screaming, there was a lady lying with a severed foot.
“There was blood everywhere, there were bodies on the ground everywhere.
“There was a sense of panic, people standing by their loved ones but also people running away.”
The truck, stolen from a national beer company yesterday, drove along several streets before ploughing into victims and smashing into the department store in the centre of the city.
Dozens of police cars and ambulances rushed to the scene with officers putting on gas masks as they directed people away.
At the height of the manhunt all trains from the central station were cancelled.
Stockholm’s subway service was cleared. It reopened just after 7pm, but trains were not stopping at the two stations closest to where the attack took place.
Traffic on the Oresund Bridge linking Sweden and Denmark was limited at the request of Swedish police.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said: “It hurts deep into my heart that our Swedish brothers and sisters have been exposed to such an abominable attack. A cowardly attempt to subdue us and our peaceful way of living in Scandinavia, it is a day of mourning. But it is also a day of a will to fight the darkness.
“For every attempt to bend us we move closer. We move closer around our Swedish neighbours.”
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said: “Our brothers and sisters are hit and we share their sorrow.”
Finland’s Premier Juha Sipila wrote on Twitter: “Terrible news from Stockholm. Our thoughts are with our neighbours and friends in Sweden.”
The scene of yesterday’s attack is close to the spot where British-based Swedish national Taimour Abdulwahab blew himself up in 2010.
Lone wolf Abdulwahab, 29, who lived in Luton, died in a failed car bombing.