News Bomb blast in Oslo; PM's office building targeted.

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A car bomb exploded in Oslo's governmental quarters, killing several and injuring many, with reports indicating a coordinated terror attack. Following the bombing, gunfire erupted at a Labour Youth camp on Utøya island, where a shooter disguised as a police officer opened fire on teenagers, resulting in multiple casualties. Initial reports suggest at least 10 confirmed dead at Utøya, with many others injured or missing. The situation remains chaotic, with ongoing rescue efforts and a suspect in custody. This incident marks a significant and tragic moment for Norway, raising concerns about national security and the impact of terrorism.
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Terror has struck the Norwegian capital today.
At 15.26 local time (roughly two hours ago), what appears to have been a car bomb blasted off in the governmental quarters in Oslo.
Several have been confirmed dead; although none of our political leasers/ministers seem to be missing/hurt.

This a sad day for our nation.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Reuters has a report here:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/22/us-norway-blast-idUSTRE76L2VI20110722
 
Sad, very sad arildno, 2 killed and several injured, you have my and all Swedes sympathy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6XuRMt7tgc&hd=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6XuRMt7tgc
 
WHAT THE? Now there is gunfire in Oslo, in some type of 'political camp'? :eek::eek::eek:


Edit: Sky News – Confirmed, some sort of organized terror attack... ongoing!
 
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DevilsAvocado said:
WHAT THE? Now there is gunfire in Oslo, in some type of 'political camp'? :eek::eek::eek:

That is correct.
A person disguised as a police officer visited the Oslofjord island Utøya, where the Labour Youth (teenagers) have their traditional summer camp.
He began firing about; people fled and hid.
Nothing more has yet surfaced about this onslaught yet.
 
Several of the youths at Utøya (approx 700 teenagers are there every year) have panicked, and begun swimming from the island.
That is a VERY BAD idea (but understandable), since the island is quite far from themain land.
I've beern there once at a mathematics course; I believe the ferry used something like 10-15 minutes to reach Utøya.
 
... omg ... as said, all sympathies from your neighbors ...
 
Oh my, what a horror.

I wish all the best for Norway - you have the world's support, stay tough!
 
Not that it matters a lot, but Utøya lies in the inland lake Tyrifjord, rather than in the Oslo fjord.

Today, previous prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, internationally renowned for the brundtland commission on environment and her stint as general secretary of WHO is reported to have made a speech at Utøya.

I haven't found out if she is still out there, but the situation at Utøya is NOT under control at the moment.
 
  • #10
Terrible. Those poor kids.

I hope they catch the person/persons responsible for the bombing and now this.
 
  • #11
no no no... 4 youths confirmed killed on the island, shooting ongoing ... :frown:
 
  • #12
Luckily, your terrorists seem incompetent. Some traffic accidents kill and injure more people than this terror attack did.

*edit* I'm mainly talking about the bomb blast, not the ongoing murder spree on the island.
 
  • #13
Jack21222 said:
Luckily, your terrorists seem incompetent. Some traffic accidents kill and injure more people than this terror attack did.
These are EVIL persons, in contrast to the drunk drivers of the world.
 
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  • #14
4 are reported shot at Utøya, but deaths have not been confirmed.

However, the rescue teams who entered the government building R4 have found SEVERAL dead inside.
 
  • #15
arildno said:
Idiot.
These are EVIL persons, in contrast to the drunk drivers of the world.

Yes, and the evil people have done less damage to Norway than they have in almost any other nation they attack.

Madrid had 191 killed and 1800 injured.
London had 56 killed and 700 injured
New York had over 3000 killed and many more injured
Mumbai had 166 killed

All I'm saying is luckily it wasn't worse.
 
  • #16
arildno said:
Idiot.
These are EVIL persons, in contrast to the drunk drivers of the world.

I'm ignorant about Norwegian politics - are there any internal groups (anarchists, fringe political groups, etc.) who could possibly do such a thing? This comes to mind because it seems from the initial reports that the PM, and maybe his party, are being targeted.
 
  • #17
lisab said:
I'm ignorant about Norwegian politics - are there any internal groups (anarchists, fringe political groups, etc.) who could possibly do such a thing? This comes to mind because it seems from the initial reports that the PM, and maybe his party, are being targeted.
Members of the Religion of Peace.
We have quite of a lot of them here.
 
  • #18
Jack21222 said:
Yes, and the evil people have done less damage to Norway than they have in almost any other nation they attack.

Madrid had 191 killed and 1800 injured.
London had 56 killed and 700 injured
New York had over 3000 killed and many more injured
Mumbai had 166 killed

All I'm saying is luckily it wasn't worse.
First, this is Norway, things like this don't happen there. Trying to dismiss this because other places have greater violence is ridiculous.
 
  • #19
Evo said:
First, this is Norway, things like this don't happen there. Trying to dismiss this because other places have greater violence is ridiculous.

In no way am I being dismissive. I agree it's a bad thing, and I'm sure it's shocking to Norwegians, all I'm saying is it could have been a lot worse, and it wasn't.
 
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  • #20
arildno said:
4 are reported shot at Utøya, but deaths have not been confirmed.

According to Sky News 5 is now confirmed dead on the island, but Sky are hopefully wrong. The terrorist has an automatic weapon, according to Sky.
 
  • #21
DevilsAvocado said:
According to Sky News 5 is now confirmed dead on the island, but Sky are hopefully wrong. The terrorist has an automatic weapon, according to Sky.

The county secretary in Labour Youth Telemark is the source of this message from Twitter, where he has said 4 persons shot&dead.

It is complete chaos out there; I hope he is wrong.

Some have managed to swim over, and hopefully, the others will be picked up by the police boats.
 
  • #22
arildno said:
These are EVIL persons, in contrast to the drunk drivers of the world.
Exactly. My condolences to the people of Norway.
 
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  • #23
Jack21222 said:
all I'm saying is it could have been a lot worse, and it wasn't.

Please, stop this nonsense. You are way out, and it’s a disgrace for the victims. This is a TERRORIST ATTACK on Norway, Europe, NATO and all other western countries, and it is NOT OVER for god’s sake!
 
  • #24
This is the co-ordinated action of a terror group; where one part of the group carried out the attack at the government building, and another person of the group disguised himself as a policeman and when getting to Utøya asked to inform the youths about the bombing action.

THEN, he began to shoot at the assembled teenagers..
 
  • #25
arildno said:
The county secretary in Labour Youth Telemark is the source of this message from Twitter, where he has said 4 persons shot&dead.

It is complete chaos out there; I hope he is wrong.

Some have managed to swim over, and hopefully, the others will be picked up by the police boats.

... geez :frown: Sky is saying that one man is arrested on the island ...
 
  • #27
Yup, it is confirmed that a person was arrested, around 19.20 local time (ca. 8 minutes ago)
 
  • #28
mheslep said:
1:19 EST (3 mins old):
Norway TV reported that a group called Helpers of the Global Jihad said "This is just the beginning of what will come," though the TV station said it's unclear that the group has taken responsibility

as expected :mad::mad::mad:
 
  • #29
It is confirmed that previous prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who has an iconic "Mother of the Country" position here left Utøya approximately 15 local time, an hour before the desperado began to shoot.
 
  • #30
Ongoing press conference:

7 confirmed dead as per now in the government building.
 
  • #31
This video was taken 5-10 min. after the bomb exploded in Oslo, prior to the cordoning off of the area.
"Incompetents", indeed!
 
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  • #32
lisab said:
I'm ignorant about Norwegian politics - are there any internal groups (anarchists, fringe political groups, etc.) who could possibly do such a thing? This comes to mind because it seems from the initial reports that the PM, and maybe his party, are being targeted.
If I should hazard a couple of guesses, it might be :

1) A response to Norway's engagement in Afghanistan
2) A response to Norway's bombing engagement in Libya.
 
  • #34
Damn terrorists. This sort of thing makes me sad, and very angry.
 
  • #35
A horror report at Norwegian radio from one of the members from the rescue boats to Utøya:

He estimated that he saw AT LEAST 25-30 shot&dead teenagers lying in the coastal zone/floating in the waters around the island.
This is not officially confirmed.

There has been a report that the purported assassin had a Scandinavian outlook, blond.

It MIGHT be a Timothy McVeigh scenario we have witnessed, where a neo-nazi group has attacked the dominant centres of Labour party power, i.e, the PM office and the Labour Party "school" at Utøya.
 
  • #36
  • #37
lisab said:
Damn terrorists. This sort of thing makes me sad, and very angry.

true... confusing mixed feelings...

:mad::cry:
 
  • #38
arildno said:
A horror report at Norwegian radio from one of the members from the rescue boats to Utøya:

He estimated that he saw AT LEAST 25-30 shot&dead teenagers lying in the coastal zone/floating in the waters around the island.
This is not officially confirmed.

There has been a report that the purported assassin had a Scandinavian outlook, blond.

It MIGHT be a Timothy McVeigh scenario we have witnessed, where a neo-nazi group has attacked the dominant centres of Labour party power, i.e, the PM office and the Labour Party "school" at Utøya.

I can’t take this anymore... the world HAS gone crazy
 
  • #39
arildno said:
A horror report at Norwegian radio from one of the members from the rescue boats to Utøya:

He estimated that he saw AT LEAST 25-30 shot&dead teenagers lying in the coastal zone/floating in the waters around the island.
This is not officially confirmed.

There has been a report that the purported assassin had a Scandinavian outlook, blond.

It MIGHT be a Timothy McVeigh scenario we have witnessed, where a neo-nazi group has attacked the dominant centres of Labour party power, i.e, the PM office and the Labour Party "school" at Utøya.

And if it is, will you apologize to the Muslims you blamed?
 
  • #40
Jack21222 said:
And if it is, will you apologize to the Muslims you blamed?
Good heavens, why?

It is neither a criminal, nor an immoral, nor irrational act to blame the groups commonly associated with such atrocities.

Whatever they might feel about it, whether my initial suspicion proves right or wrong.
 
  • #41
Speculations are pointless/just garbage.

I feel sorry for all the families and people who suffered.

Interesting analysis article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14256438
"If the bomb blast in Oslo turns out to be a terror attack, it will mark a 9/11 moment for Norway."

They may well do so again now, though this time might be different.

Norway's attitude to risk might now change, quickly and dramatically, as private individuals withdraw and as central authorities bolster security.

If so, a possible goal of the attackers may well have been achieved, in that they have robbed Norway of its innocence.

It does not have much substance related to the accident.
 
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  • #42
10 confirmed dead at Utøya; at least 17 brought to hospitals, many of them with hypothermic body temperatures indicative of having floated in the weter
 
  • #43
The police are interrogating the suspect from Utøya at the moment.

They have, in one report confirmed that there are what seems to be observations of this individual in Oslo prior to the bomb explosion.It MIGHT therefore be a loner operation, a highly organized individual first placing the bomb in Oslo, and then driving off to Utøya (roughly an hour's drive, I think).

On the other hand, he may have waited to see that the others' work was successful, before launching his own sub-operation.

A disturbing report talks about a possible bomb having gone off in the 3rd or 4th floor (possibly in conjunction with a car bomb) in the government building, either indicative of an insider's job, or a highly inadequate security apparatus.
 
  • #44
according to NYT:

A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism. The message said the attack was a response to Norwegian forces’ presence in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/world/europe/23oslo.html?_r=2&hp
 
  • #45
A press conference by the Prime Minister is imminent.
 
  • #46
Minister of Justice has officially confirmed that the arrested individual was a Norwegian.
 
  • #47
arildno said:
Minister of Justice has officially confirmed that the arrested individual was a Norwegian.
Are they a member of that group, or have they been able to verify yet?
 
  • #48
Evo said:
Are they a member of that group, or have they been able to verify yet?
Nothing like that has surfaced.
The arrested individual is the fake policeman (who, reportedly, was spotted in Oslo just prior to the explosion there).

I am inclining towards a despicable Timothy McVeigh-type behind these attacks, possibly acting alone.
 
  • #49
arildno said:
Nothing like that has surfaced.
The arrested individual is the fake policeman (who, reportedly, was spotted in Oslo just prior to the explosion there).

I am inclining towards a despicable Timothy McVeigh-type behind these attacks, possibly acting alone.
I hope it is not something more organized and insidious than a lone nut-case.
 
  • #50
turbo-1 said:
I hope it is not something more organized and insidious than a lone nut-case.

If that IS the case, it might have grave consequences in stifling perfectly legitimate criticisms from conservative milieux highly critical of, for example, multiculturalist dogmas, by smearing them with this vile act.
 

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