Sweden issues an international arrest warrant for a suspected explosive
An explosion and a fire in Stockholm had injured 16 people last month
Swedish prosecutors on Tuesday issued an international search warrant for a tenant in an apartment building in Sweden’s second largest city after an explosion and a fire that injured 16 people last month.
The man is suspected of attempted murder, arson and general destruction, the authorities state in a statement and add that he should be extradited to Sweden if he is arrested. However, investigators are not sure that the man is abroad.
The authorities in Sweden have not named the suspect, who is a man in his 50s. Swedish media said he was born in Poland.
Early on September 28, an apartment building in Gothenburg was hit by a powerful explosion. The 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 police Aftonbladet newspaper. Several Swedish media said that an eviction was planned on the day the explosion occurred.
Aftonbladet said police had already charged the man with several crimes a week before the explosion. The newspaper also reported that the suspect harassed several people, including the owner of the building, after not being allowed to see his mother in a nursing home due to pandemic restrictions.