Authorities have arrested a second man in connection with a truck attack in Stockholm that killed four people. Swedish police had been looking for accomplices after a 39-year-old Uzbek man confessed to driving the truck.
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Weeks after a truck mowed down pedestrians on a shopping street in central Stockholm, Swedish police arrested a second suspect in the case, prosecutors said on Monday.
Police spokesman Simon Bynert said that the suspect was a man and that he was arrested on Sunday.
Both police and prosecutors did not provide any further information on the man's suspected offense. The prosecution has until Wednesday to decide whether the suspect should be formally remanded in custody.
Authorities said the second arrest came after investigators examined unspecified material gathered after the attack.
Four people were killed in the truck attack on April 7, including two Swedes, one Briton and one Belgian. Out of the 15 people who were wounded by the truck, only one remains in hospital, local authorities said on Monday.
A 39-year-old Uzbek national, Rakhmat Akilov, confessed to driving the stolen truck and pleaded guilty to a terrorist crime. He is being held in custody, but police have been looking for possible accomplices.
The construction worker and father of four was refused permanent residency in Sweden in June 2016. After receiving a deportation order, Akilov went underground last year, but police said there was nothing to indicate that he might plan an attack.
Uzbekistan's government said its security services had informed a Western ally that Akilov had ties to "Islamic State" (IS) jihadists, Russian media previously reported. Sweden's foreign ministry said that it never received the information.
Swedish authorities have not disclosed a motive for the attack and no extremist group has claimed responsibility for it.
The Stockholm attack was the fourth time in the past year that a vehicle has been used to target a crowd of civilians in Europe. It follows the deadly attacks in London, Berlin and Nice.
rs/rc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
'Lovefest' vigil in Stockholm after deadly attack
Thousands of people have united in Stockholm in an act of defiance after an attacker rammed a truck into a retail store on a busy shopping street. "Fear shall not reign. Terror cannot win," said the city's mayor.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber
Love united
Some 20,000 people gathered on Sergels Torg plaza on Sunday. The "Lovefest" vigil was a sign of unity against terrorism, two days after a truck attack on a busy pedestrian street which killed four people. "Fear shall not reign. Terror cannot win," Stockholm mayor Karin Wanngard told the crowd, saying terrorism would be defeated with "kindness and openness."
Image: Reuters/TT News Agency
Flower tributes
A police vehicle outside Ahlens department store which was targeted in Friday's attacked was covered in flowers. "I think it's very important to stay strong together against anything that wants to change our society, which is based on democracy," said one Swede who gave her name as Marianne. "We talk, we don't fight."
Image: Reuters/TT News Agency
Love not hate
Among the thousands of people at Sunday's vigil were placards proclaiming love and protesting against terrorism. This one reads: "Love for all - hate toward no one." Another woman in the crowd wearing a headscarf held a sign reading: "We don't respond with fear, we respond with love."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber
A nation in shock
The usually tranquil Scandinavian nation, which prides itself on its openness and tolerance, was deeply shocked by Friday's attack. Linking arms, under flags flying at half-mast, the crowd at Sunday's vigil held a minute's silence for the four victims.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber
Victims remembered
Among the victims were two Swedish nationals. The Foreign Office in London has also confirmed that a British man, 41-year-old Chris Bevington, was among the dead, while the Belgian foreign ministry said a Belgian woman had been killed. Fifteen others were injured, four of whom remain in critical condition.