Terror Reaches Scandinavia

Until yesterday Finland was one of the most quiet European countries, at least nothing similar to what happened on Friday, at 19:30 (local time) in the trade centre Myyrmanni was observed here before.

In a suburban Helsinki supermarket an explosion occurred, injuring dozens. The number of victims totaled 7 killed and 80 injured. The building sustained considerable damage. Just after the tragedy the press made the assumption that the reason for the explosion could be gas balloons. The supermarket administration rejected this assumption, but stated there have not been any balloons in the building. The police and local authorities do not think the event looks like a terrorist act. At the same time, the police are urging everyone to avoid any conclusions before expert examination of the scene has been conducted. Scandinavian countries (especially Finland) were considered to be the safest in Europe until recently. One must certainly not forget about the fire in a disco club in the Swedish city of Geteborg in 1998. In that incident about 60 people were killed, mainly young people under 20. Most of them were children of Yugoslavian and African immigrants. The cause of the fire was considered to be arson.

Vasily Bubnov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/10/12/48308.html