Swedish police defused an explosive device found at an outdoor culture festival in central Stockholm at the weekend after evacuating hundreds of people from the area, police said Monday.
The bomb squad was called in on Sunday evening after an abandoned bag was found in the Kungstradgarden park in the city center, where various musical and theatre events were being held.
“The bomb squad neutralized the device at the scene”, police said in a statement, adding: “Police believe that the bag … contained an explosive charge”.
“All of the components will now be examined. Only after that will we be able to say if the dangerous object was functional”, a Stockholm district police chief, Erik Akerlund, said in the statement.
Police have opened a preliminary inquiry into destruction of public property. They have spoken to witnesses and were studying “extensive camera and video material” from the scene, he said.
