Norway in mourning as scores die in attacks
Source: Agencies |
July 24, 2011, Sunday
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Police say the suspect in a shooting rampage on a Norwegian island has admitted firing weapons there.
Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim said yesterday that the male suspect who is in custody has been in a "dialogue" with police but that the interrogations are difficult.
Earlier, it emerged that the suspect in the shooting spree on the island of Utoya and a bombing in central Oslo that together left at least 92 people dead, bought six tons of fertilizer beforehand, the supplier said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Norway's royal family and prime minister led the nation in mourning, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of young people gunned down at an island retreat, as the shell-shocked Nordic nation was gripped by reports that the gunman may not have acted alone.
The island tragedy on Friday unfolded hours after a massive explosion ripped through a high-rise building housing the prime minister's office.
The toll in the shooting reached 85 yesterday, but police warned that it could rise further as they sent divers into the lake to look for bodies.
Queen Sonja and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg hugged when they arrived at the hotel where families are waiting to identify the bodies. King Harald and Queen Sonja shook hands with family members, while the prime minister, his voice trembling, told reporters of the harrowing stories survivors had recounted to him.
A man who said he was carrying a knife was detained by police officers outside the hotel. He told reporters he was carrying the weapon because he didn't feel safe.
The suspect of both attacks in police custody - a blond, blue-eyed Norwegian with reported Christian fundamentalist, anti-Muslim views - has been preliminarily charged with acts of terrorism.
Information about him began to trickle out yesterday, including that he owned a farm and amassed six tons of fertilizer in the weeks before the twin attacks. Fertilizer is highly explosive and can be used in homemade bombs.
That quantity of fertilizer wouldn't have fitted in one car. Two burned-out cars could be seen at the scene of the bombing on Friday, but police have not confirmed whether they were used in the attack.
On Utoya, panicked teens attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp plunged into the water or played dead in attempts to avoid the assailant in the assault that may have lasted 30 minutes before a SWAT team arrived, police said.
Stoltenberg said the twin attacks made Friday peacetime Norway's deadliest day.
"This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends," Stoltenberg told reporters yesterday.
The carnage began Friday afternoon in Oslo, when a bomb rocked the heart of Norway, killing seven.
About two hours later, the shootings began at Utoya. The gunman used both automatic weapons and handguns, a police official said.
It was not clear yesterday whether experts had succeeded in disarming a bomb that the official said had been left on the island.
The blast in Oslo left a square covered in twisted metal, shattered glass and strewn documents.
While survivors evacuated the buildings, word came that someone had opened fire on an island about 35 kilometers northwest of the capital.
A SWAT team put on alert after the bombing was sent to the island.
Though police did not name the man in custody, Norwegian national broadcaster NRK identified him as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik. Police searched his Oslo apartment yesterday.
The Oslo University hospital said it has so far received 11 wounded from the bombing and 16 from the shooting.
Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim said yesterday that the male suspect who is in custody has been in a "dialogue" with police but that the interrogations are difficult.
Earlier, it emerged that the suspect in the shooting spree on the island of Utoya and a bombing in central Oslo that together left at least 92 people dead, bought six tons of fertilizer beforehand, the supplier said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Norway's royal family and prime minister led the nation in mourning, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of young people gunned down at an island retreat, as the shell-shocked Nordic nation was gripped by reports that the gunman may not have acted alone.
The island tragedy on Friday unfolded hours after a massive explosion ripped through a high-rise building housing the prime minister's office.
The toll in the shooting reached 85 yesterday, but police warned that it could rise further as they sent divers into the lake to look for bodies.
Queen Sonja and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg hugged when they arrived at the hotel where families are waiting to identify the bodies. King Harald and Queen Sonja shook hands with family members, while the prime minister, his voice trembling, told reporters of the harrowing stories survivors had recounted to him.
A man who said he was carrying a knife was detained by police officers outside the hotel. He told reporters he was carrying the weapon because he didn't feel safe.
The suspect of both attacks in police custody - a blond, blue-eyed Norwegian with reported Christian fundamentalist, anti-Muslim views - has been preliminarily charged with acts of terrorism.
Information about him began to trickle out yesterday, including that he owned a farm and amassed six tons of fertilizer in the weeks before the twin attacks. Fertilizer is highly explosive and can be used in homemade bombs.
That quantity of fertilizer wouldn't have fitted in one car. Two burned-out cars could be seen at the scene of the bombing on Friday, but police have not confirmed whether they were used in the attack.
On Utoya, panicked teens attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp plunged into the water or played dead in attempts to avoid the assailant in the assault that may have lasted 30 minutes before a SWAT team arrived, police said.
Stoltenberg said the twin attacks made Friday peacetime Norway's deadliest day.
"This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends," Stoltenberg told reporters yesterday.
The carnage began Friday afternoon in Oslo, when a bomb rocked the heart of Norway, killing seven.
About two hours later, the shootings began at Utoya. The gunman used both automatic weapons and handguns, a police official said.
It was not clear yesterday whether experts had succeeded in disarming a bomb that the official said had been left on the island.
The blast in Oslo left a square covered in twisted metal, shattered glass and strewn documents.
While survivors evacuated the buildings, word came that someone had opened fire on an island about 35 kilometers northwest of the capital.
A SWAT team put on alert after the bombing was sent to the island.
Though police did not name the man in custody, Norwegian national broadcaster NRK identified him as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik. Police searched his Oslo apartment yesterday.
The Oslo University hospital said it has so far received 11 wounded from the bombing and 16 from the shooting.
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