Homemade BOMB found in hijacked beer truck that was 'deliberately driven at young children' sending buggies flying through the air as Stockholm terrorist ploughed into crowds outside shopping centre
- WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Carnage on streets of Swedish capital left four people dead and 15 more hurt
- Masked man hijacked a beer truck and ploughed into crowds outside Stockholm's largest shopping centre
- Up to three men were seen leaping from the lorry and opening fire on officers and pedestrians at around 3pm
- Two suspects were filmed being detained at the scene and last night two others were arrested in city suburbs
Witnesses described how severed limbs and bodies were left littered across the blood-splattered Drottninggatan in a scene reminiscent of a 'warzone'.
Many told how they had been browsing in busy stores when the lorry came hurtling towards them.
One told of bodies and blood 'everywhere' and even a dead dog with its owner screaming beside it.
Nils Bengtsson told of the moment when he realised it was a terror attack: 'I heard a loud bang and people screaming,' he said.
'I then saw the truck coming towards me. Then I started to think about what happened in Nice and realised that the same thing is happening here in front of me.
'The truck was driving really fast and drove towards people at full force. I was about 100 metres [300ft] from where the truck crashed.
'I was afraid about what I might see… but I wanted to help so I left the shop and walked out and I was met by chaos.
'There were injured people everywhere around the truck.
'People around me were in shock. Everyone was crying and screaming. It felt like being in a warzone.
'There were several hundred people on the street. I saw at least three or four dead bodies on the street where the truck had crashed.'
Christoffer Ung told TT news agency: 'I was on my way to the exit and just saw the wall coming towards us like an avalanche.
'People turned in panic and fled towards the exits. My first thought was that a bomb had exploded. When I came out of the building I saw flames emerging from it.'
Store manager Malin Emto said: 'Suddenly there was a customer who had a panic attack and started screaming. We ran to the window and saw two dead bodies, badly mangled.'
Besarta Gashi, 31, who is pregnant, said she and her nine-year-old daughter Leonida were feet from being crushed by the lorry.
'We heard screams. We started to run but did not know where it came from. Just then the truck came a hair's breadth away from us,' she said. 'I jumped away and pulled back my sister and daughter.
'They had just enough time to get away. I saw parts flying... many dead on the ground. A girl under the truck who could not escape.'
At first, she feared that she had lost her unborn baby but was last night told by doctors that the child had survived.
Blood was seen on the streets outside of the shopping centre where at least four people were killed and 15 more injured
Emergency services were seen tending to injured people and putting blankets over those who had been killed
The 'lightly injured' suspect was arrested in Marsta, a suburb north of Stockholm, after members of the public contacted police to say he was acting strangely. Pictured is a police block near to where the arrest took place
A Syrian woman, who gave her name only as Narin, sobbed as she told how she saw a woman whose legs had been cut off in the carnage.
She said: 'I was terrified, I am still shaking. The truck went at high speed – it crushed everything in its path. In the beginning we thought it was an explosion because of the loud sounds.'
One unnamed witness told of how he saw the truck come speeding towards him. 'He mowed down eight people there and I saw four bodies a little further away.
'A woman with a small child became completely paralysed and just stood still. I grabbed her and another woman and threw us all into a stairwell.'
As the chaos unfurled, a plain clothes officer screamed at onlookers to leave the scene, warning that there could be a bomb inside the lorry.
John Backvid witnessed the aftermath of the attack and told how passers-by tried to help the injured before the emergency services arrived. He told BBC News: 'Some people were on the ground doing CPR.
'The first thing I felt was a bit of smoke in the air. I saw a gathering of people and the truck on fire – it was deep in the store and the store fire alarm was going.
'It was chaotic. I could not see if anyone was driving it but it got out of control. I saw at least two being run over. I ran as fast as I could.'
Yosef Jawad said he saw an English-speaking woman collapsed on a zebra crossing and screaming: 'My legs, my legs.'
'Her feet hung loose and there was blood everywhere,' he said. 'I'm from the Middle East, you see very bad things on TV from Iraq, but this was terrible.'
Radio presenter Martin Svennigsen said he tried desperately to save those who had been crushed by the vehicle.
'There was blood everywhere. I saw two shattered bodies and tried to save a third, but could not. I leaned back and closed his eyes,' he told Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Paramedics were photographed dashing to the scene where four people died and at least 15 were injured
Heavily armed police patrolled the streets of Sweden after the horrific attacks on pedestrians in the city
This officer donned a gas mask as she attempted to calm people and evacuate them from the area where the attack took place
Emergency services cordoned off the roads around the department store. Bodies were covered in orange blankets
This terrifying security camera footage shows shoppers piling into a clothes store as the terrorist truck speeds past
The Swedish capital was put on lockdown with residents warned to stay inside as police launched a major manhunt to catch the killer
All trains in and out of the city were cancelled and motorists were told to stay away from the centre. The use of a lorry to mow down a crowd is more reminiscent of terror attacks in Nice and Berlin last year
Police hold a news conference to brief the press on the manhunt. Picture, from left is Anders Thornberg, Swedish Security Service, Dan Eliasson, National Police Commissioner and Mats Löfving, Deputy Director of the Swedish Police Authority
A homemade bomb was discovered in the truck which was used to kill three people after the Stockholm terrorist 'deliberately drove at young children', it was revealed today.
Police bomb disposal experts found the improvised explosive device packed into a suitcase inside the hijacked beer truck.
The discovery of the bomb points to a planned terror attack rather than an opportunistic attack. It is not known why the IED failed to detonate.
A 39-year-old man has been arrested and held in charges of carrying out a terror attack in which a stolen beer truck was driven at high speed into the entrance of a department store.
His outspoken remarks, in which he also said Sweden was 'having problems like they never thought possible', drew a wave of international criticism. But it prompted renewed debate over Sweden's refugee policy, which has seen it described as 'the most welcoming country in the world'. Some politicians say the country has struggled to deal with the huge numbers of migrants who have travelled there to enjoy the high quality of life.
The surge of immigration at the peak of Europe's migration crisis in 2015 saw a record 163,000 asylum applications in just one year.
The influx, to a country with a population of 10million, prompted officials to put in place additional checks at the country's borders.
Since 2012 around 300 people have travelled from Sweden to join violent Islamist groups – making the country one of the largest contributors to terrorist cells in Europe. They typically travel to Syria and Iraq but security services had felt they had stemmed the flow.
Yesterday's attack will reawaken memories of Sweden's first brush with Islamist extremism when another devastating incident was only narrowly avoided on the same street.
The botched 2010 plot was masterminded by a former British student who travelled to Drottninggatan as it was packed with Christmas shoppers.
Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, who was partly radicalised while studying in Luton, had loaded his white Audi car with gas canisters, which could have killed dozens.
A remarkable stroke of luck, however, meant that the improvised weapons failed to detonate properly when the car went up in flames and only two people were injured.
The sole fatality was the perpetrator himself. He had fled the vehicle carrying pipe bombs, one of which exploded.
Jan Granroth was inside a shoe shop when he heard screams. He told Aftonbladet: 'We stood inside a shoe store and people started screaming. So I looked out of the store and I saw a huge truck slam into the wall opposite.'
Mr Granroth managed to escape after running through an emergency exit.
Another witness, called Dimitris, described the panic and saw 'at least' two people being run over.
He said: 'I went to the main street when a big truck came out of nowhere. I could not see if anyone was driving it but it got out of control.
'I saw at least two being run over - I ran as fast as I could.'
A woman, called Anna, witnessed the incident and described seeing 'hundreds of people running for their lives'.
She said: 'I turned and ran after seeing hundreds of people running, they ran for their lives.'
Shocking video showed hundreds of terrified shoppers sprint for their lives after the truck rammed into pedestrians.
In other footage, shoppers pile into a clothes store as the terrorist truck speeds past.
Just moments after the suspected terrorist incident, armed police wearing gas masks arrived at the scene and shut off the busy road in the centre of the capital.
Glen Foran, an Australian tourist in his 40s, said: 'I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side.
'It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people … it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it. It took a long time for police to get here … it felt like forever.'
Annevi Petersson, who was in the fitting room of the department store at the time of the attack, said: 'There was a lady lying with a severed foot. There was blood everywhere.
'There were bodies on the ground everywhere, and a sense of panic, people standing by their loved ones, but also people running away.'
Maria Nathalie was on the top floor of the store when the fire alarm was triggered.
Speaking on the phone, she told NBC: 'People started running down the stairs when the fire alarm started.
'When we came down to the bottom of the building all we could see was a lot of smoke.'
As the centre of the city began to clear this afternoon, the blood stains could be seen as bodies covered in blankets were left on the road.
Paramedics desperately treated injured people near the lorry after they had been caught up in the attack.
Terrified eyewitness Veronica Durango, 42, miraculously escaped and was just one metre away from being struck by the vehicle.
She told Expressen: 'I could have died.'
The Swedish royal family has issued a statement in which they say they have learned with dismay of the events. 'We follow the developments and our thoughts are with the victims and their families.'
Stockholmers appeared to be following police advice to stay indoors and avoid crowded areas, with a number of normally-bustling city streets deserted.
Security was also beefed up across European cities in the wake of the attack.
In Norway, one of the few European countries where police are not routinely armed, officials announced that officers in major urban areas would now carry firearms. In a tweet, Norwegian Police said officers in its largest cities and at Oslo's airport would be carrying weapons until further notice.
In Finland, police increased patrols in the capital Helsinki.
Last night, as world leaders sent messages of condolence, Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf said his 'thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families'.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said that it 'looks like we have seen a despicable act of terrorism' which was aimed at 'harming innocent people'.
Speaking just weeks after the Westminster terror attack, Mr Khan said that 'we will never allow terrorists to succeed' after a truck ploughed into people in Stockholm.
He said: 'My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the victims and the families who have been affected by the horrific attack in Stockholm today.
'The full details are still emerging, but once again it looks like we have seen a despicable act of terrorism aimed at harming innocent people and attacking our shared values of democracy, freedom, justice and tolerance.
'Londoners know how it feels to suffer from senseless and cowardly terrorism. And I know we share a steely determination with the people of Stockholm that we will never allow terrorists to succeed.
'We will never be cowed by terrorism, and today - London stands united with Stockholm and Londoners stand with the people of Stockholm.'
Tensions masked by idyllic lifestyle
With its bustling pavements and elegant shops, Stockholm has come to be seen as one of Europe's most peaceful and developed cities.
For decades, the Swedish way of politics – based on fair wealth redistribution, a welfare state with generous benefits, a large public sector and a liberal immigration policy – has been put forward as a role model for other countries.
Pundits and politicians have described Sweden as 'the safest place on Earth' and it has barely suffered from terrorist attacks.
Indeed, the last incident of note came in 2010 when a failed suicide bomber blew himself up in central Stockholm.
But yesterday's killings come two months after US President Donald Trump was ridiculed around the world for making reference to a non-existent terror attack in the country.
How vehicles became terrorists' favourite weapons
Terrorists using cars and lorries to run down people like in Westminster, Nice, Berlin and now Stockholm 'is becoming the standard of an attack' security experts warned.
Low tech attacks using stolen and hired vehicles to randomly rammed into crowds, were becoming increasing common by terrorists unable to get hold of guns and explosives.
It is 'nigh on impossible' for security services to monitor and stop potential terrorists planning such murders and the only way to prevent them is by using barriers to protect pedestrians.
Managing Director of Corporate Security Services Will Geddes said attacks of this kind will likely increase.
He said: 'We have seen a marked increase since the attacks in Nice last year and there is every good chance it will become regular as it is a very easy platform to deliver an attack.
'It is incredibly difficult to stop these things. We have seen something today in Stockholm which is increasingly difficult to stop and we are going to see a drastic increase in the protection of pedestrianised areas.
'Whether they are going to be permanent or temporary, time will tell. It is very difficult to stop, nigh on impossible.'
There have been five attacks using cars and trucks in the past nine months.
London
On 22 March, Khalid Masood, 52, drove a Hyundai 4x4 over Westminster Bridge, mowing down members of the public before crashing into a fence beside Big Ben.
He then got out of the car and attacked PC Keith Palmer with a knife.
Masood was shot twice by police and died when he was taken to hospital.
Five people died in the attack, including PC Palmer.
Antwerp
The day after the Westminster attack, a man in Antwerp drove into a crowded shopping area in the Belgian city in an attempted attack, but no one was injured.
Prosecutors today dropped terrorism charges against Mohamed R. as there was not enough evidence.
He remains in custody on a weapons offence related to the incident.
Jerusalem
On January 8, a Palestinian lorry driver mowed down and then reversed over Israeli soldiers, killing four and wounding 15 people, in a shocking copycat of the Berlin and Nice terror massacres.
Shocking video from the scene showed the driver reversing back over the soldiers, trapping ten under his wheels, during the sickening attack.
Berlin
A copycat ISIS-inspired massacre took place in Germany when a terrorist drove a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin.
Twelve people were killed in the attack on December 19.
Anis Amri stole a cargo truck and killed 12 people when he drove through a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz.
Among the dozen people killed was the original driver of the truck Lukasz Urban who was found dead with a gunshot wound in the passenger street.
Amri was a Tunisian who had failed to gain asylum status in the country.
He was killed in Milan four days later after an international manhunt.
Nice
On Bastille Day in the summer of last year, 86 people were killed when a truck was driven through crowds enjoying fireworks in Nice.
On the evening of July 14, 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was driven into crowds on the Promenage des Anglais.
ISIS fanatic Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was behind the wheel and after exchanging gunfire with police, the Tunisian migrant was shot dead.
Thousands had gathered on the seafront to watch the fireworks that night.
86 of them died and 434 were injured.
Armed police patrol outside the central station in Stockholm where people were evacuated from the station
Bystanders were seen comforting each other outside of the Central station, where gunmen were reported to have attacked commuters
Many people in central Stockholm were clearly in shock after the terror incident. Police sealed off the centre of the city and asked members of the public to leave
Shopping centres targeted by terrorists around the world
Since 2013, there have been at least four terror attacks at shopping centres.
Munich
On July 23, German-Iranian man Ali Sonboly, 18, attacked a mall in Munich, Germany, killing nine and wounding 27.
He opened fire in a McDonald's and had no link to ISIS.
The man shouted 'I am German' as he wielded a Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol.
Munich police said a motive was 'completely unclear', but some said he was inspired by Norwegian Anders Brevik, who killed 77 on Utøya island.
Police officers escort people from inside the shopping center as they respond to the shooting at the Olympia Einkaufzentrum in Munich
Essen threat
On March 11, a shopping centre in Essen, western Germany, was closed after police had 'concrete indications' of a terror attack.
Police searched a flat 12 miles away from Limbecker Platz mall and questioned the owner of the apartment.
A second man was also questioned.
Antwerp
On March 23, the day after the Westminster terror attack, a man drove a car into crowds at the Meir shopping area in Antwerp, Belgium.
No one was hurt and the man, Mohamed R., 39, was taken into custody.
Prosecutors have dropped terrorism charges as they said there was not enough evidence.
But he is still being held on a weapons offence related to the incident.
Nairobi
On September 21 2013, a gunman killed 67 and injured 175 in an attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi.
The extremist Islamic group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the incident.
Women carrying children run for safety as armed police hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree in Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi
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