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Hijacked truck slams into crowd in Stockholm
Hijacked beer truck slams into Stockholm crowd
Four killed and 15 injured in what Sweden’s prime minister calls a terrorist attack. One person has been arrested.
STOCKHOLM — 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 after the latest use of a vehicle as a weapon in Europe.
Buildings near the attack were locked down for hours in the heart of the capital — including the country’s parliament — and the main train station and several large malls were evacuated.
“Sweden has been attacked,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a nationally televised news conference. “This indicates that it is an act of terror.”
Later Friday night, Lofven placed 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.”
Late into the night, forensic experts 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 had been killed and 15 wounded, nine of them seriously.
Authorities evacuated the city’s nearby Central Station, a hub for regional trains and the subway system. All trains to and from the main station were halted. Sweden’s national theater, Dramaten, canceled three performances Friday evening.
The truck crash appeared to be the latest attack in Europe using a vehicle.
In the most recent attack last month claimed by the Islamic State group, a man drove into a crowd on London’s Westminster Bridge, killing three people and injuring many others before stabbing a policeman to death. He was shot and killed by police. A fourth person, a woman thrown into the Thames by the attack, died Thursday.