Stockholm attack: Toll reaches 4; Sweden mourns loss of lives

TIL Desk/World/Stockholm/The death toll in Friday’s ‘terror attack’ in Stockholm has reached four, while 15 others are injured.  A hijacked beer truck ploughed into pedestrians at a central Stockholm department store barely a few meters away from the Indian Embassy. A nationwide manhunt was launched and one person was arrested today following the latest use of a vehicle as a weapon in Europe.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven laid a bouquet of red roses and lit a candle near the site of the attack. Officials announced flags at government offices would fly at half-mast today to honour the victims. “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 travelled for more than 500 meters along a main pedestrian street known as the Drottninggatan before it smashed into a crowd outside the upscale Ahlens department store about 3 pm. It came to rest in the entrance to the building. TV footage showed smoke coming out of the store after the crash.