'You will never ever win' - Swedish PM responds as four confirmed dead in Stockholm truck attack and one man arrested

Swedish police said they have arrested one person in connection with a deadly truck attack in central Stockholm.

"One person has been arrested who may be connected with the incident," police said in a statement.

Separately, national news agency TT said police had confirmed that four people had been killed in the attack, which also left more than a dozen injured.

Four people have been confirmed dead, while 15 people were injured. Nine people have been left with serious injuries according to police.

Earlier police released an image of man they wished to speak to in connection with the incident. An official has said that the man arrested resembles the man in the CCTV image. 

The man has been identified, police say.

Sky News reports that the man was arrested after a member of the public contacted police after noticing the man acting strangely.

A manhunt is still underway for the driver of the lorry.

A police spokesman said: "The driver of the lorry, we have not made contact with him."

Mats Lofving, head of Swedish police's National Operations Department (NOA) said the picture, was taken close to the time of the incident, in the vicinity of the attack.

"I have a picture of a person who has been seen at the location at this point in time. We want to get in contact with this person," he told a news conference.

The grainy image shown by police showed a man wearing a jacket with a dark hood over a bright t-shirt and dark trousers.

Police said there were no indications that an attack was imminent.

Police evacuated people from surrounding buildings, who were required to stay there in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

The Swedish Prime Minister, who earlier said everything indicated that the attack was terror related, has said the country is united.

Stefan Lofven said the Nordic country was united in grief and anger and vowed that hatred would never be allowed to undermine the country's values.

"These kinds of actions will never succeed. We know that our enemies are these atrocious murderers and not each other," he told a news conference.

"Our message will always be clear: you will not defeat us, you will not govern our lives, you will never ever win."

Stockholm's subway service has been cleared to restart but all bus traffic in the city centre remains at a standstill, the public transport authority said.

The incident occurred near Queen Street in Central Stockholm shortly before 3pm, local time.

A vehicle drove onto the pedestrian street Drottninggatan and into a department store building.

Several deaths and injuries have resulted but police said they were unable to confirm the number of fatalities on Friday afternoon.

It is understood the truck was hijacked or stolen from a brewery company Kall Ol.

In the immediate aftermath panic ensued and people fled the area.

Elsewhere, there are reports of a shooting on a separate street in the city. Police are now also investigating this incident.

Towe Hägg, a spokeswoman at Stockholm police command center, said earlier: "Police were alerted at around 2.53pm (local time).

"We have initial information that people are injured and we are here to find out more."

No further reports of gunshots emerged and it is not clear what happened in the second reported incident.

All subway traffic has now been closed down in Stockholm following the attack and trains into the city have been cancelled.

Police have also ordered a lockdown on the city's central train station.

Government offices have been evacuated and all cabinet ministers have been brought to safety.

• Read more: Swedish Prime Minister says Stockholm incident 'indicates it's a terrorist attack' as one arrested and three dead
• Read more: Witnesses describe horror after 'out-of-control' truck ploughs down busy shopping street

Witnesses

Newspaper Aftonbladet quoted a witness saying they saw hundreds of people running for their lives near the Ahlens mall.

Another witness told the newspaper that the out-of-control truck ran over at least two people.

A shocked witness told Swedish Television News they saw two people lying on the ground after the truck ploughed through the pedestrian street.

They said: "We walked past and then there are two people on the ground.

"Then the truck continued on Drottninggatan, then we did not see where it went."

Another bystander described the scene as "chaos."

Marie Karlberg SVT Nyheter: "We were in H&M and a truck was driving in the pedestrian zone right into Åhléns.

"It's pure chaos and it burns on Drottninggatan."

Another bystander said police were screaming at people on the street, roaring; "Back, back, this is no joke."

Another eye-witness told Aftonbladet about having to run to safety.

The person, who has been named as Dimitris, said: "I was on the main street when a big truck came out of nowhere.

"I could not see if anyone was driving it but it went out of control.

"I saw at least two people being run over. I ran as fast as I could from there."

Another witness told TT news agency they saw medical personnel helping injured people.

They said: "I also saw people with blankets over them.

• Read more: Suspected terror attack in Stockholm- Follow all the latest developments
• Read more: What we know so far about Stockholm truck incident

"Their whole bodies was covered."

Office worker JP Hanson described the scene as mayhem and said his building has been put into lockdown.

"Right now, inside here we have maybe 40 people," he told BBC News.

"The mood is quite positive, obviously people are afraid - but I would say it's a strong mood."

Witness Jan Granroth told Aftonbladet that "we stood inside a shoe store and heard something ... and then people started to scream." He said: "I looked out of the store and saw a big truck."

Another witness quoted by the paper said: "When I came out I saw a lorry standing there, with smoke coming from it, and there were loads of bits of cars and broken flower pots along the street."

Solidarity

The European Union has offered Sweden support and solidarity.

"An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," said EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker.

"One of Europe's most vibrant and colourful cities appears to have been struck by those wishing it – and our very way of life – harm.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the people of Sweden and the Swedish authorities can count on the European Commission to support them in any which way we can."

"My heart is in Stockholm this afternoon," EU summit chair Donald Tusk tweeted.

"My thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends of today's terrible attack."

My heart is in #Stockholm this afternoon. My thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends of today's terrible attack.

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) April 7, 2017

King Carl Gustaf, Sweden's head of state, expressed his horror at the attcak.

"Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families," he said in a statement from the royal palace.

The Armed Forces in Sweden are currently monitoring the situation

The crash is close to the scene of a terror attack in 2010 when Taimour Abdulwahab, a Swedish citizen who lived in Luton, blew himself up.

The terrorist, who police concluded acted alone, died on December 11 2010 in the Bryggargatan area. No-one else was killed.

Following today's incident, police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo's airport will be carrying weapons until further notice following an attack in Stockholm on Friday, Norwegian police said in a tweet.

Police officers in Norway, which borders Sweden, do not usually carry guns on them.

In Finland, police increased patrols in the capital Helsinki.

Meanwhile, Sweden's national rail company SJ said all trains to and from Stockholm's central station would be cancelled for the rest of the day as a result of the deadly truck attack in the city.

"No SJ trains will go either to or from Stockholm Central for the rest of the day," SJ said in a statement.

Online Editors