Indian embassy officials safe in Stockholm: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj says after truck attack

Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said all officials of the Indian high commission in Stockholm were safe after an attack took place on the streets close to the mission.

Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said all officials of the Indian high commission in Stockholm were safe after an attack took place on the streets close to the mission. (Highlights)

A view of the street scene after people were killed when a truck crashed into a department store Ahlens, in central Stockholm, Sweden, April 7, 2017. (Reuters)

“All Indian embassy officials are safe in Sweden terror attack that took place close to the embassy area,” the minister said in a statement.

At least three people were killed when a truck drove through crowds in the central part of the Swedish capital city, injuring several others.

Speaking to ANI, Indian ambassador to Sweden Monika Mohta said, “I heard loud noises and saw two people lying on street. I also saw three others injured.”

She also informed that rail services have been temporarily halted and the House of Culture was shut down.

The attacker hijacked a beer truck and crashed into an upscale department store in what Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called a terror attack.

“Sweden has been attacked,” Lofven said in a nationally televised press conference. “This indicates that it is an act of terror.”

Last month, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, a man drove into a crowd on London’s Westminster Bridge, killing three people and injuring many others before stabbing a policeman to death. He was shot dead by police. A fourth person, a woman thrown into the Thames by the force of the car attack, died Thursday.