menu

Updated | 'Several dead' after truck drives into crowd in Stockholm

Swedish police says there are several dead, several injured after truck drives into crowd in Stockholm • Police confirm truck driver still at large

7 April 2017, 3:35pm
2 min read
Swedish police say a truck has crashed into a department store in central (Photo: Twitter)
Swedish police say a truck has crashed into a department store in central (Photo: Twitter)

A truck has smashed into a store in central Stockholm, Sweden, leaving "several dead" and "several injured", according to Swedish police.

The haulage vehicle drove into crowds on Drottninggatan, a popular shopping street in the Swedish capital, just before 3:00pm local time (2:00pm CET). Swedish news agency TT said several people have been rushed away in ambulances.

Police also confirmed that shots were fired at another location, according to media reports. When the truck drove into the crowd, a man fled carrying a weapon, according to a reporter at the scene.

Reports that the suspect was in police custody have been denied.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the country "has been attacked and everything indicated that this was an act of terrorism."

The capital was immediately locked down as police set up barricades, suspended public transport and warned people to avoid the city centre. Police later evacuated the central train station close to where the attack took place.

The truck, a delivery vehicle belonging to the brewery Spendrups, was hijacked earlier in the day. The company confirmed it was stolen on Friday morning when a man jumped into the cab and drove it away.

Pictures on social media showed the truck crashed into the corner of shopping centre with its cab on fire, while video footage showed hundreds of people running from the scene.

Live television footage showed smoke coming out of the department store that the truck smashed into.

Friday's incident is near the site of a December 2010 attack in which Taimour Abdulwahab, a Swedish citizen who lived in Britain, detonated a suicide bomb, killing himself and injuring two others.

Abdulwahab rigged a car with explosives in the hope that the blast would drive people to Drottninggatan where he set off devices strapped to his chest and back. The car bomb never went off, and Abdulwahab died when one of his devices exploded among panicked Christmas shoppers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attack, but vehicles have been common weapons in recent extremist attacks.

Last month, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, a man drove into a crowd on London's Westminster Bridge, a man in a car ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four, and then stabbed a policeman to death before being shot by police.

ISIS has also claimed responsibility for a truck attack that killed 86 people in Nice, France, in July of last year and another in December that killed 12 people at a Christmas market in Berlin.

By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy including the use of cookies to enhance your experience.