Powerful Explosion In Apartment In Stockholm District Of Hässelby ‘Felt Like An Earthquake’

THREE people were hospitalised after a massive explosion occurred in an apartment block in the Stockholm district of Hässelby Strand on the evening of  Monday, September 25.

The emergency services were alerted at around 9:10 pm. As a result, three people were taken by ambulance to a hospital in the Swedish city.

Several units of the national bomb protection and rescue services were also deployed to the location, to assist the police in the subsequent operation. ‘Some form of explosion has occurred, we are there and assist the police with several units’, their commanding officer, Magnus Bengtsson told the news outlet.

A local individual could have been the intended target

According to local witness reports, relatives of an individual who is believed to be involved in a conflict with a criminal network live at the address where the blast happened.

The building was evacuated as a precaution and the authorities are said to have opened an investigation into a possible race risk.

Anna Westberg, a press spokesperson for Stockholm police told aftonbladet.se: ‘The extent of the damage is unclear. There is no risk of collapse for nearby buildings’.

‘We are investigating the multi-family building in question together with property owners. A premises nearby has been opened for the evacuees’, she added.

‘The police are now searching for suspected perpetrators with, among other things, a helicopter. We have not detained anyone suspected of the explosion but we have a big effort in the area and will have it for several hours’, Westberg confirmed.

Gloves and other objects of interest were found nearby

A source informed Aftonbladet that investigators had found gloves and other objects in a location near the damaged property. The area has been cordoned off and the police are investigating whether the objects can be linked to the perpetrators behind the detonation.

According to Aftonbladet’s informant, the witnesses observed two people with their hoods pulled up. They fled the scene after placing an object outside an apartment door, they claimed.

Residents in the immediate vicinity told the newspaper that they heard a loud bang in connection with the explosion. One Hässelby resident said: ‘It was as loud as hell. It rattled a lot in the apartment’.

Another neighbour, who lives next door to the spot where the blast occurred, told the paper how his apartment shook: ‘I was sitting and playing with some friends and then it started shaking, it felt like the whole house was going to collapse as if it were an earthquake’.