Göteborg: explosion i flerbostadshus Övre Husargatan (2021-09-28)

At least 16 people were injured, four seriously, after an explosion tore through an apartment block in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

Sweden has seen a surge in gang-related crime in recent years, with firearms and explosives used to settle scores.

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention last year said the country - with a population of 10 million - had gone from having one of the lowest levels of fatal shootings in Europe to having one of the highest.

Sweden's 100 explosions this year: What's going on?

The explosion took place just before 5 a.m. in the Annedal district in central Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city. Fires spread to several apartments, and fire department crews were still working to extinguish the flames mid-morning.

On June 30, a police officer was shot and killed in Goteborg. A 17-year-old suspect has since been arrested. Earlier this year, the Swedish national council for crime prevention said Sweden was the only European country where fatal shootings have risen significantly since 2000, primarily because of violent gangs.

In 2019, a powerful explosion ripped through two adjacent apartment buildings in the southern Swedish city of Linkoping, injuring 25 people and damaging more than 100 apartments. Police believe a feud between opposing criminal gangs was behind the blast. No arrests have been made.

Swedish media immediately focused Tuesday on the possibility that the Goteborg blast could be related to feuding gangs but Prime Minister Stefan Lofven repeatedly declined to speculate on a motive.

The Nordic country has contended with surging gang crime in recent years, with rival groups employing explosives and firearms to settle scores.

“It’s terrible,” the interior minister, Mikael Damberg, told TT news agency. “I have great confidence in the police authority and that it uses all the resources required to sort out what has happened.”

Gothenburg explosion: 25 in hospital after blast at block of flats in Sweden
Fire service rules out natural cause.

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Four people were seriously hurt in an explosion and fire on Tuesday in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, and police are investigating whether an explosive device was placed at the scene.

Under eftermiddagen är räddningstjänsten fortsatt på plats med ungefär samma bemanning som under morgonen. Totalt sett ett 50-tal personer.

– Vi är på plats och arbetar med släckning. Vi har mindre bränder i konstruktionen, så vi släcker glödhärdar, säger kommunikationschef Idamaria Stocks.

Räddningstjänsten kommer vara på plats ett bra tag till, uppger hon strax efter klockan 16.