BREAKING NEWS: Explosion at Norway Prime Ministers Office

[AMT]

Just came in

[cosmicalstorm]

Lets hope its a bad accident and nothing more.

Pic:
http://yfrog.com/z/kinyqpej

A large explosion has hit near government headquarters in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

The blast is thought to have caused damage to the offices of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and a number of other official buildings.

Witnesses have said several people were injured in the incident in the centre of the city.

Pictures from the scene showed shattered windows and smoke drifting in the streets.

A journalist with Norwegian public radio station NRK said the headquarters of tabloid newspaper VG were also damaged.

"I see that some windows of the VG building and the government headquarters have been broken. Some people covered with blood are lying in the street," the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.

Are you in Oslo and did you see what happened? Get in touch and let us know if you witnessed this event. You can send eyewitness accounts using the form below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14252515

[cosmicalstorm]

Here are the big newspapers in Oslo, I believe the VG building itself was damaged, lots of pictures.
http://www.vg.no/
http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/arti ... d=10080585
http://www.nrk.no/

[Sea Skimmer]

About all signs point to a moderately powerful car bomb at the moment. The only other real option would be a very large gas leak, which is not very plausible for occupied office buildings in the middle of the work day. Never mind the reports of a wrecked car at the center of it all.

[General Mung Beans]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/world ... ml?_r=1&hp

Big Blast Hits Government Buildings in Central Oslo
TV2 Norway, via Associated Press

In this video image taken from television, smoke is seen billowing from a damaged building as debris is strewn across the street after an explosion in Oslo on Friday.
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
Published: July 22, 2011



A large explosion shook central Oslo on Friday and blew out the windows of several government buildings, including one housing the office of the Norwegian prime minister, according to local media reports. There were initial reports of several injuries.


The sound of the blast echoed across the city just before 3:30 local time, and a giant cloud of white smoke continued to rise hundreds of feet into the air over the city as a fire burned in one of the buildings. Reuters said the fire was in the building housing the country’s oil ministry.

Initial media reports described a chaotic scene as police cleared the area around the building and were searching for additional explosives, according to the daily Aftenposten. Photos and television footage showed a 17-story building with windows blown out and the surrounding street strewn with glass and debris.

Norwegian media reported that the prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, was safe.

The cause of explosion was not immediately clear, but a Reuters reporter described seeing the mangled wreckage of a car near one of the buildings.

While Norway has seen little political violence in recent years, the country has a small fighting contingent in Afghanistan and was one of several countries cited by Ayman al-Zawahri, the Al Qaeda leader, as potential targets for attack. In 2006, Norwegian newspapers reprinted Danish cartoons that angered Muslims by lampooning the Prophet Muhammad.

Three Norwegian men were arrested in July 2010 on suspicion of terrorism and were said to be a terrorist “node” in a larger global network, American counterterrorism officials said at the time.

Duplicate Thread Merged -- Lady Tev

[Rogue 11]

I'm watching NRK's live coverage of this. The police have confirmed it was a bomb, 2 dead 8 injured so far, numbers are expected to rise.

They keep repeating that this is the most dramatic event in Norwegian history since WW2.

I'll admit. Watching these pictures I'm scared. Not of the terrorists, but how Goverment and population will react. Norway doesn't really have any experience in taking this sort of thing, and we've seen countries react in really stupid ways before. I really hope that won't happen here.

[cosmicalstorm]

They were invaded and occupied during WW2 so there is a kind of cultural memory of "nasty stuff" happening.

Two videos below, this looks like more than a medium bomb to me seeing as how entire buildings appears to have been blown out and windows etc. are crushed for hundreds of meters in every direction.
http://www.twitvid.com/RQNBF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... kFYUP3aKbU

[Sea Skimmer]

It takes very little pressure to break glass and actual structural damage seems non existent any video or photos, just windows and window frames. Probably equivalent to around 100 pounds of TNT or less in energy terms and made out of our endlessly annoying friend ammonium nitrate which produces a lot of gas but at a relatively low velocity. So you get glass break over a wide area without shattering masonry or breaking steel. Some of those buildings could have a fair number of as yet unseen dead and wounded people inside from the flying glass, but no buildings have been totally shattered which tends to suggest a limited size blast and hopefully more non life threatening glass wounds then torn up bodies. Another 1000% pointless chapter in the history of terrorism.

[Rogue 11]

Current count: 15 wounded (Seriously so. I bet there are a lot more very lightly wounded), 2 dead. As of a police conference.

Apparently the one known car bomb was placed directly underneath the oil and energy ministery (That bit was not from the police at the conference. I'm not sure how reliable it is)

Police are reccommending that for the immediate future people go home and leave the center of Oslo as well as avoid big concentrations of people.

Nobody has taken credit for it as far as we know. No clue who did it and why from the cops. At least that they are telling us.

[Sea Skimmer]

So wait, the bomb was underground and everything being seen on the surface is indirect effects?

[cosmicalstorm]

They were talking about shootings taking place somewhere in Oslo right now

It takes very little pressure to break glass and actual structural damage seems non existent any video or photos, just windows and window frames. Probably equivalent to around 100 pounds of TNT or less in energy terms and made out of our endlessly annoying friend ammonium nitrate which produces a lot of gas but at a relatively low velocity. So you get glass break over a wide area without shattering masonry or breaking steel. Some of those buildings could have a fair number of as yet unseen dead and wounded people inside from the flying glass, but no buildings have been totally shattered which tends to suggest a limited size blast and hopefully more non life threatening glass wounds then torn up bodies. Another 1000% pointless chapter in the history of terrorism.

You are probably right. I'm just shocked by this since I've lived in Oslo and have many friends there, it's strange to see all that damage.

[Rogue 11]

So wait, the bomb was underground and everything being seen on the surface is indirect effects?

Sorry bad wording. It was on the surface (Pictures of the car shows that) just that the building it was the closest to was that ministry.

[Dartzap]

Between the location of the bomb and the following shots at the PM, it does sound like there's been a concerted assassination attempt of some kind.

[Raj Ahten]

Rumors have been floating around other message boards that there has been some sort of shooting elsewhere in the country. Nothing in English media yet so its probably bullshit. Anyone on the ground care to comment?

[Dartzap]

Rumors have been floating around other message boards that there has been some sort of shooting elsewhere in the country. Nothing in English media yet so its probably bullshit. Anyone on the ground care to comment?

Its on the BBC - a Labour party camp about 45 minutes away from Oslo was attacked by someone in a police uniform.

Gruaniad

Neil Perry has sent me more details of the shooting on the Labour party youth camp, which suggests co-ordinated attacks. It is a Google translation from Dagbladet, tidied up a bit, so it is not perfect.

E

yewitnesses told the AP that a man dressed as a police officer has fired several shots at Utøya in Buskerud. AP spoke with one of those who were on Utoya where there is an AUF event with over 700 people.

"Suddenly, we heard lots of shooting. People had to run and hide. We have been told to get off the island."

"We now have reports of a serious situation there - a critical situation on Utøya," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told TV 2

The police are now on site and sealed off the area. Bjorn Jarle Røberg-Larsen of Labor, is not in Utoya, but has had telephone contact with young people who are on the island.

"They say that at least one person wearing a police-like uniform was firing shots with a handgun," he said.

He says that the young people he talked to were hiding and dared not speak on the phone anymore for fear of being discovered by the perpetrator.

"Young people have to swim in panic, and it is far to the mainland from Utoya. Others are hiding. Those I spoke with did not want to talk more. They were terrified," he said to VG Nett.

[cosmicalstorm]

The police chief is live on NRK, he did mention a shooting and mentioned that there were dead bodies in several buildings.

[Lord Zentei]

I'm watching NRK's live coverage of this. The police have confirmed it was a bomb, 2 dead 8 injured so far, numbers are expected to rise.

They keep repeating that this is the most dramatic event in Norwegian history since WW2.

I'll admit. Watching these pictures I'm scared. Not of the terrorists, but how Goverment and population will react. Norway doesn't really have any experience in taking this sort of thing, and we've seen countries react in really stupid ways before. I really hope that won't happen here.

The reaction will depend a great deal on who turns out to be responsible, and how the investigation is handled. It might be Islamic terrorists, or Neo-Nazis. Whoever is behind it will suffer a severe backlash, as will the government if they jump the gun (for example consider the bombings in Spain which the Aznar government initially blamed on Al-Quaeda, but turned out to be Basques).

[cosmicalstorm]

I'm watching NRK's live coverage of this. The police have confirmed it was a bomb, 2 dead 8 injured so far, numbers are expected to rise.

They keep repeating that this is the most dramatic event in Norwegian history since WW2.

I'll admit. Watching these pictures I'm scared. Not of the terrorists, but how Goverment and population will react. Norway doesn't really have any experience in taking this sort of thing, and we've seen countries react in really stupid ways before. I really hope that won't happen here.

The reaction will depend a great deal on who turns out to be responsible, and how the investigation is handled. It might be Islamic terrorists, or Neo-Nazis. Whoever is behind it will suffer a severe backlash, as will the government if they jump the gun (for example consider the bombings in Spain which the Aznar government initially blamed on Al-Quaeda, but turned out to be Basques).

You mean blamed Basques but turned out to be AQ?

[Rogue 11]

NRK just claimed that the attackers on Utøya are dressed as police.

[Dartzap]

My heartfelt sympathies for all concerned. The UK has had its fair share of batshit arseholes in the last century of so, and to an extent you become apathetic to it. I can only hope our Norwegian contingent are able to come to terms with this.

Cant remember how many bomb scares at trainstations I've been around now. You start to get used to it after a while

[Lord Zentei]

The reaction will depend a great deal on who turns out to be responsible, and how the investigation is handled. It might be Islamic terrorists, or Neo-Nazis. Whoever is behind it will suffer a severe backlash, as will the government if they jump the gun (for example consider the bombings in Spain which the Aznar government initially blamed on Al-Quaeda, but turned out to be Basques).

You mean blamed Basques but turned out to be AQ?

Whoops Yes, that was it.


Seems I was unintentionally channeling Aznar there for a bit, how ironic.

[Raj Ahten]

Rumors have been floating around other message boards that there has been some sort of shooting elsewhere in the country. Nothing in English media yet so its probably bullshit. Anyone on the ground care to comment?

Its on the BBC - a Labour party camp about 45 minutes away from Oslo was attacked by someone in a police uniform.

Huh. Sometimes internet rumors do support the truth. Which is a bad in this case because gunmen in police uniforms are never a good thing.

[Rogue 11]

My personal opinion:

I hope they catch as many of these fuckers alive as humanly possible.

I hope they put them on normal Norwegian criminal trials performed properly. I hope they are put away according to normal Norwegian criminal punishments. No martyrdom. No extraordinary treatment. Just put away like other crooks, but efficiently and correctly. Never forgetting that we are the civilized people in this equation.

[The Romulan Republic]

My personal opinion:

I hope they catch as many of these fuckers alive as humanly possible.

I hope they put them on normal Norwegian criminal trials performed properly. I hope they are put away according to normal Norwegian criminal punishments. No martyrdom. No extraordinary treatment. Just put away like other crooks, but efficiently and correctly. Never forgetting that we are the civilized people in this equation.

This.

But of all the places I would have expected something like this, Norway is not high up the list. Not that I know a great deal about Norwegian culture or politics, but this is shocking. It should be taken as a warning, I think, that no matter how stable, peaceful, or civilized your country may seem, one should never get complacent or assume things can't get bad very quickly.

My prayers and sympathies are with the people of Norway.

[Dartzap]

A local news helicopter crew has reportedly said that they saw almost 30 corpses whilst flying over the island where the shooting took place. Not confirmed as yet.....