Bomb was found at the Stockholm culture festival
Swedish authorities discovered and safely detonated a bomb early Monday morning that was discovered in a central park in Stockholm, the site of an ongoing cultural festival.
Police were alerted to a suspicious bag at 9.40pm on Sunday evening in Kungsträdgården, a park in the center of the capital that often hosts live events and outdoor concerts during the summer months.
Police called in the bomb squad to assess and later dispose of the bag, which was later confirmed to contain an explosive device, according to a Report from SVT.
Kungsträdgården has hosted a cultural festival and due to the report of the suspicious bag, the concert at the festival was stopped and all participants were ordered to leave the area.
Sweden has seen over 80 explosions and bombings in 2021 https://t.co/2h0tpB6JNu
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 25, 2021
“The site of the Culture Festival on Karl XII’s square ended up inside the barrier and therefore had to be evacuated at the request of the police. The audience was allowed to continue their evening in the festival’s other areas that were outside the police cordon”, Linnea Monteiro, festival manager for the Stockholm Culture Festival said.
“They stopped playing and said we have to leave. There are police everywhere,” a witness told the newspaper The evening paper.
Ola Österling, press spokesperson at the Stockholm police, says that while no one has been arrested in connection with the bomb attempt, investigations are underway to identify a suspect in the case.
– We will do a comprehensive analysis where we will, among other things, look at surveillance cameras in Stockholm City to see if we can trace the person who left the bag there, says Österling.
While Sweden has seen several bombings in recent years, the vast majority are usually linked to gang conflicts and take place in residential or commercial areas, rather than in public places such as concerts and festivals.
The Swedish capital Stockholm saw a record number of explosions and bombings in 2020 despite the Chinese coronavirus pandemic theoretically encouraging people to stay at home, according to police statistics. https://t.co/h4eGXjqCoJ
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) 21 January 2021
Stockholm has been one of the main areas for bombings in recent years, with a record 32 explosive incidents in 2020 despite the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, Sweden saw at least 80 explosions across the country, marking a slight decrease from 2020, but the number of bombings and explosions in Sweden still dwarfed any of its Scandinavian neighbors.