In Central Stockholm the truck drove onto a pedestrian street, knocking people and crashed into a storefront shopping center. The victims of the attack, which police have classified as a terrorist attack, there have been at least four. Another 12 were injured.
Police detained a suspect in the attack. Sources of the newspaper Aftonbladet claim that he pleaded guilty, however, this information is not officially confirmed. Two more people arrested shortly after the incident but then released.
Russian service Bi-bi-si has covered the consequences of the attack online.
Stolen truck
The truck used in the attack was stolen in Central Stockholm at about three o’clock local time (16:00 Moscow time). He belonged to a local brewery Spendrups. They reported that the car was missing until the driver brought the goods to the restaurant.
The hijacker drove six blocks, left into the main street of Stockholm, Drottninggatan — knocked down the small fence in front of it a pedestrian part and began to shoot down people on the sidewalk, then crashed into a storefront Mall Ahlens.
In the photos from the event can be seen that after the collision with the window of the car caught fire, but soon the fire was extinguished. Reporters first said that the driver was detained, but then it turned out that he managed to escape.
At the scene, pulled off the armed police and the media spread a photo of the suspect. Late in the evening it became known that the similar person is still detained, although the police have not yet taken to assert that driving the car was he.
Four dead
From the beginning received conflicting information about the number of victims. Immediately after the attack on the people reporters reported the presence of the victims. Soon in press there was information that was lost from two to five people.
In the end, the police officially reported the death of three people. Another victim, according to doctors, died in the hospital. Thus, the victims of the attack were four people. Another 12 were injured.
Through social networks spread rumors about the shooting in Central Stockholm, but they didn’t. However, according to eyewitnesses, in the centre of Stockholm for a time panic reigned.
The response of the authorities
The police quickly responded to the threat and cordoned off the scene, and increased its patrols of other streets in the city centre. Just in case people were evacuated from nearby from the scene of the attack station.
In addition, for security purposes, was cordoned off Parliament building, also near the accident scene, and completely stopped the movement of public transport. Including the stop of the subway.
However, to date, the Stockholm subway trains have resumed traffic on the lines. However, the restoration of railway communication, and resume other forms of public transport are not expected before the morning.
Prime Minister Stefan lofven almost immediately after the attack said that a lot indicates that it was planned and had terrorist motives. The same view is held by the police.
Leven convened an emergency meeting of the government, the results of which stated that it had decided to strengthen border controls, but will not raise the terrorist threat level in the country, which in 2010 is estimated at three points.
A similar scenario
The responsibility for what happened yet no one picked up. At the same time less than a year of similar attacks on civilians occurred in many cities around the world.
The first of these was an attack in nice, which occurred on 14 July last year. Then the man sent the truck into a crowd of people who celebrated Bastille Day. Killed 86 people, injured more than 300. The driver was shot by police.
In December 2016, a man in a stolen truck crashed into a crowd of visitors to the Christmas fair in Berlin. Killed 12 people, injured 49. The driver managed to escape and flee to Italy, but was found and shot during the arrest by the local police.
The third large-scale attack on the people of the same kind occurred on 22 March in London. It was used for passenger car. It at great speed left on the sidewalk in the area of Westminster and broke into the territory of Parliament.
Driver knocked down a few people, then jumped out of the car and attacked with a knife on a police officer, fatally wounding him, after which he was shot. In total, the attacks claimed the lives of six people.
All of these attacks were classified as terrorist attacks and responsibility for them was assumed banned in Russia and many other countries, the extremist group “Islamic state” (banned in Russia, ed.).
