Sweden is looking for a building explosion suspect, orders custody
STOCKHOLM (AP) – A tenant in a Swedish apartment building who was rocked by an explosion and fire last month that injured 16 people was formally arrested on Monday in his absence, suspected of attempted murder, arson and general destruction.
The measure allows the prosecutor to go out with an international search warrant, even if it is not certain that the man is abroad.
Authorities in Sweden have not mentioned the suspect, a man in his 50s, who is also suspected of having caused the explosion and the subsequent fires. He has not been arrested.
Early on September 28, a residential building in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city, was crushed by a powerful explosion. Subsequent fires spread to several apartments and hundreds of residents were evacuated. Four of the injured are in serious condition and at least 140 apartments were damaged.
Swedish radio quoted an unnamed neighbor as saying that the suspect had “a lot of chemicals, either in the apartment or in the basement, considering the smell.”
The property owner had tried to evict the man and his mother from their apartment in the building, according to the newspaper Aftonbladet. Several Swedish media said that an eviction was planned for the day when the explosion occurred.
Aftonbladet said that the police had already accused the man of several crimes a week before the explosion. The newspaper also reported that after he was not allowed to see his mother in a nursing home due to pandemic restrictions, the suspect harassed several people, including the owner of the building.