Stockholm attack latest: Manhunt for suspect in green jacket after lorry ploughs into crowd
Police treating incident as terror attack
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A lorry has been driven into crowds in central Stockholm in what police are treating as a terror attack.
Here are the latest updates:
Manhunt for suspect in green jacket after lorry kills three and injures 'many' more
Witnesses describe horror of attack where hundreds fled for their lives
Police say lorry was hijacked earlier today and incident is being treated as terror attack
Why Sweden - and was it Isis? Everything we know so far
A lorry has crashed into a crowd of people in central Stockholm killing at least three people, Swedish police have said.
Armed police rushed to the scene and shots have been fired, Swedish radio reported.
The incident occurred at Ahlens Mall in Drottninggatan, a shopping area of the city, which has been cordoned off.
A witness told Swedish daily paper Aftonbladet: “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 from there.”
Another witness told the paper they saw hundreds of people “running for their lives” outside the shopping centre.
“A vehicle has injured people on Drottningatan,” police spokeswoman Towe Hagg told Reuters.
Broadcaster SVT says at least five have been killed but police could not immediately confirm, and other outlets aren't reporting that figure yet.
Sweden's Intelligence Agency says on its web page that there is "a large number of injured" in the truck crash.
The gunshots people were reporting earlier appear to have occurred around the area of Fridhemsplan, a distance from the Ahlens department store where the lorry crashed.
Police say they are aware of the gunshot reports and "something must have happened" but it is too early to say whether that is linked to the lorry incident.
"There are indications that something must have happened there but there is nothing that I can confirm at the moment," police spokeswoman Anna Westberg told Aftonbladet.
Video shows the immediate aftermath of the crash, and smoke rising from what appears to be the crash site.
Earlier there were reports that the lorry was on fire.
Later video appears to show the fire under control:
Swedish media are quoting the owner of company where the truck in question was from, saying that it was "hijacked" earlier today.
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has told a press conference that one person has been arrested.
"Sweden has been attacked," he said.
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf has commented on the attack.
He says: "I and the entire royal family are dismayed at some of the information about the afternoon's attack in Stockholm.
"The background and the extent of the incident is not yet known.
"We follow the developments, but already our thoughts are with the victims and their families."
With the Swedish PM saying the incident is being treated as an attack, here's some background on the Isis extremist threat in Sweden.
Isis propaganda has for months continued inciting terror attacks in Europe, the US, Australia and other countries supporting military operations against its fighters.
An issue of its Rumiyah magazine issued in October contained lengthy instructions on how to carry out knife attacks, including what weapon to use, deadly places to strike a blow and ways to overcome “discomfort” at the thought of such slaughter.
The next issue of the propaganda magazine, released in multiple languages in November, advised jihadis to launch vehicle attacks in an article citing the Nice lorry attack that killed 86 people as a “superb demonstration”.
“Having a secondary weapon, such as a gun or a knife, is also a great way to combine a vehicle attack with other forms,” it read.
Isis has claimed one previous terror attack in Sweden.
It claimed responsibility for a firebombing in October at a building use as an assembly hall by Shia Muslims, which Isis has declared apostates and targeted with terror attacks around the world.
A 30-year-old Syrian man was charged with terror offences over the arson attack last month, after prosecutors found he had affiliated himself with Isis.
No one was injured.
Armed police have evacuated the central police station in Stockholm, the TT news agency reports.
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