A strong explosion has rocked an apartment block in the Swedish city of Linköping, the newspaper Aftonbladet reported.
The explosion occurred about 9 o'clock in the morning local time. About 20 ambulances have been summonned to the site of explosion in an apartment area at Hamngatan.
"We started to get a large number of calls from people about a heavy explosion in central Linköping, on Hamngatan. Windows have been blown away, and we are in place to secure the site. We have blocked the area and are working on getting a picture of exactly what has happened", Björn Öberg of the Linköping police told Aftonbladet.
The windows and the balconies in a five-storey house were blown off by the explosion.
"I would describe it as a limited war zone", Swedish Radio reporter Rosmari Karlsson said.
Police press officer Åsa Willsund said that at the moment there was no clear picture of what caused the blast, but that an investigation into "general dangerous destruction" has been opened.
"The way the situation is now, we suspect that this has happened through a crime, but we also cannot rule out that it is an accident that caused this, so a technical investigation on the spot will show", Willsund said.
Despite the vast damage to the house itself and the surrounding buildings, the police only reported minor personal injuries. So far, 19 victims have been taken to hospital with minor injuries.
"I was standing in the shower when I noticed that the whole house was shaking. It rumbled like thunder", witness Pontus Johansson, living in the house across the street, told the newspaper.
85-year-old Gösta Sundin, who lives on the ground floor of the house, said that he heard a huge blast at 9 o'clock.
"The whole house shook", he told Aftonbladet.
80-year-old Hillevi Ljunggren, who has lived in the house with her husband for 30 years, is currently on holiday but was called by her son who told her that the explosion was heard about seven kilometres away, "Oh, how awful", Ljunggren reacted.
Satan vilken smäll! #linköping pic.twitter.com/C5B41TupVb
— Matte Nordahl (@oldpointbar) 7 июня 2019 г.
Tweet: Damn, what a huge blast!
Före....och efter #linköping #explosion #säkpol #krimpol #svpol pic.twitter.com/Q0UcU9YBwo
— Sviken borgare🇸🇪Påverkansoperation AKA demokrati (@mydlystrgl) 7 июня 2019 г.
Tweet: Before and after
Explosion på Hamngatan, centralt i #Linköping. Enligt lokala tidningen @corren ingen avliden, men flera har lindrigare skador. Familjen verkar oskadd. Husfasad efter smällen: https://t.co/CtxEja9rAi pic.twitter.com/WmRyzrl3Eg
— Nyx (@Bufekalos) 7 июня 2019 г.
Tweet: Explosion on Hamngatan, central Linköping. According to local newspaper @corren no dead, but several have milder injuries. The family seems unharmed. House facade after the blast.
Massive explosion in central Linköping, Sweden destroys building facades and blows out windows. Reports of light injuries & 14 ambulances on the scene. https://t.co/2XDBKnoeOj pic.twitter.com/O3NsitLeeD
— Hugo Kaaman (@HKaaman) 7 июня 2019 г.
No properties have so far been evacuated from the restricted area, which encompasses several blocks.
