Sunday, December 12, 2010
A body has been found close to the site of blasts in Stockholm, Sweden yesterday evening.
According to multiple reports, a car exploded in Drottninggatan, Stockholm. Police spokesperson Petra Sjölander said “One explosion happened at the intersection of Drottninggatan and Olof Palmes Gata,” At least 2 people were treated for minor injuries from the first explosion. There are conflicting accounts concerning cause.
A second explosion followed at the intersection Drottninggatan and Bryggargatan according to the same spokesperson, who called this ‘suspicious’ – “We don’t know at this point what caused the second explosion, we had bomb technicians on site, but I can’t give you any details of what they did.”
The body of a male was found close to the site of the second incident, although any relationship to either incident is still unclear. “I can’t confirm that the death is linked to the car explosion, but I can’t rule it out either” Sjölander stated.
An eyewitness to the second explosion, Gabriel Gabiro, was reported as saying “There was a man lying on the ground with blood coming out in the area of his belly, and with his personal belongings scattered around him.”
The cause of both blasts is under investigation, police spokesperson Ulf Johansson saying ‘We need more investigation and of course we need more witnesses to give us the information of what actually has happened’. He also claimed that there had been no warnings.
Despite statements from police, some news sources are raising the possibility of a terrorist link after apparent warnings were sent to Swedish news agency TT. The warnings are reported to have contained references to Swedish involvement in Afghanistan and to the controversial Lars Vilks Muhammad cartoons.