An assailant who shot dead at least 84 people at a youth camp of Norway’s ruling party turned a “youth paradise into a hell”, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Saturday.
“Many of those who lost their lives were persons I know. I know the young people and I know their parents,” he told a news conference.
“And what hurts more is that this place where I have been every summer since 1979, and where I have experienced joy, commitment and security, has been hit by brutal violence — a youth paradise has been transformed into a hell.”
“What happened at Utoeya is a national tragedy,” he said of the small wooded holiday island that was hosting the annual camp for the Labour Party’s youth wing. “Not since World War II has our country seen a greater crime.”
The prime minister said he did not want to speculate on the motives of the attacks, but added: “Compared to other countries I wouldn’t say we have a big problem with right-wing extremists in Norway. But we have had some groups, we have followed them before, and our police is aware that there are some right-wing groups”.
“There have been some groups of that kind in Norway, but again I will not speculate. We will await the investigation from the police before we say anything about the case.”
Police said at least 84 young people had been killed, as well as employees at government offices in Oslo, where a bomb killed seven people earlier on Friday.
“It’s beyond comprehension and it’s like a nightmare. A nightmare for the young who were killed, for their close ones; mothers, fathers and siblings who were brutally confronted with death. But also for the survivors and their kin,” said Stoltenberg.
“Each and everyone who was present at Uteoya is damaged for life. Young people have experienced things every person should be spared — fear, blood and death.
Links to right wing
Norwegian television TV2 said the 32-year-old gunman detained by police was tall and blond and had links to right-wing extremism. Police said on Saturday the man had been charged for the bomb blast and the shooting.
Teenagers at the lakeside camp fled screaming in panic, many leaping into the water to save themselves, when the attacker began spraying them with gunfire, witnesses said.
“I just saw people jumping into the water, about 50 people swimming towards the shore. People were crying, shaking, they were terrified,” said Anita Lien (42) who lives by Tyrifjord lake, a few hundred metres from Utoeya.
“They were so young, between 14 and 19 years old.”
Survivor Jorgen Benone said: “It was total chaos … I think several lost their lives as they tried to get over to the mainland.
“I saw people being shot. I tried to sit as quietly as possible. I was hiding behind some stones. I saw him once, just 20, 30m away from me. I thought ‘I’m terrified for my life’, I thought of all the people I love.
“I saw some boats but I wasn’t sure if I could trust them. I didn’t know who I could trust any more.”
“We had all gathered in the main house to talk about what had happened in Oslo. Suddenly we heard shots. First we thought it was nonsense. Then everyone started running,” one survivor, a 16-year-old called Hana, told Norway’s Aftenposten.
“I saw a policeman stand there with earplugs. He said ‘I’d like to gather everyone’. Then he ran in and started shooting at people. We ran down towards the beach and began to swim.”
Hana said the gunman fired at people in the water.
Many sought shelter in buildings as shots echoed across the island that was hosting the annual camp for the youth wing of the Labour Party, the dominant force in politics since World War II. Others fled into the woods or tried to swim to safety.
Boats searched for survivors into the night, searchlights sweeping the coast. Rescue helicopters flew overhead.
Explosives found on island
The bomb, which shook Oslo’s centre in mid-afternoon, blew out the windows of the prime minister’s building and damaged the finance and oil ministry buildings.
Police seized the gunman, named by local media as Anders Behring Breivik, and later found undetonated explosives on the island, a pine-clad strip of land about 500m long.
Breivik’s alleged Facebook page (PDF) appeared to have been blocked by late evening. It had listed interests including bodybuilding, conservative politics and freemasonry.
Norwegian media said he had set up a Twitter account a few days ago and posted a single message on July 17 saying: “One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests.”
His Twitter account had 545 followers.
Breivik’s alleged profile lists him as single, Christian, and a director of a firm called “Breivik Geofarm”. His profile said he attended the Oslo Handelsgymnasium.
He also says he is a fan of the games World of Warcraft and Modern Warfare 2.
About 10 police officers were on Saturday outside the address registered to his name in a four-storey red brick building in west Oslo.
The Norwegian daily Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying he became a right-wing extremist in his late 20s. It said he expressed strong nationalistic views in online debates and had been a strong opponent of the idea that people of different cultural backgrounds can live alongside each other.
With police advising people to evacuate central Oslo, and some soldiers taking up positions on the streets, the usually sleepy capital was gripped by fear of fresh attacks. Streets were strewn with shattered masonry, glass and twisted steel.
Oklahoma City bombing
Right-wing militancy has generated sporadic attacks in other countries, including the United States. In 1995, 168 people were killed when Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb at a federal building in Oklahoma City.
Nato member Norway has been the target of threats before over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya.
Violence or the threat of it has already come to the other Nordic states: a botched bomb attack took place in the Swedish capital Stockholm last December and the bomber was killed.
Denmark has received repeated threats after a newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in late 2005, angering Muslims worldwide.
In Oslo, the building of a publisher which recently put out a translation of a Danish book on the cartoon controversy was also affected, but was apparently not the target.
The Oslo district attacked is the very heart of power in Norway. Nevertheless, security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka. – Reuters and Staff reporter