TERROR In Helsinki

IceBlaZe

Atheist Proselytizer
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Bomb caused Finland blast - police
Saturday, October 12, 2002 Posted: 5:08 AM EDT (0908 GMT)


VANTAA, Finland -- An explosion that killed seven people and injured more than 80 at a shopping centre near Helsinki was caused by a bomb, Finnish authorities say.

"A bomb exploded," said Seppo Kujala, Police Chief of Vantaa, the Helsinki suburb where the Myyrmanni mall, the second largest in the country and packed with 2,000 Friday evening shoppers at the time of blast, is located.

"The issue is not of an accident, the issue is of a criminal act. Only the number of victims shows what a shocking, ruthless and despicable thing this is," a sombre Interior Minister Ville Itala told a news conference on Saturday morning.

The blast occurred at about 7.30 p.m. (1630 GMT) on Friday, sending debris flying and causing part of the roof to collapse. A small fire that erupted was quickly extinguished.

Shoppers described the chaos after the blast. "Glass fell down from the third floor and children and parents were in total panic when they saw the injured people," Orvokki Neuvonen told The Associated Press.

"Mothers were screaming. Among the shattered glass were injured and unconscious people."

The injured, including 12 with serious wounds, were rushed to several nearby hospitals. Hospitals said several of the injured were in critical condition and the death toll could rise.

Police said they had no idea who planted the bomb. National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Chief Jari Liukku said the agency, which has taken over the investigation, was considering all possible motives for the bombing, including the possibility of a terror attack.

"We are keeping all the lines open at the moment," Liukku told Reuters. "We are cooperating with national and international authorities."

Initially, officials suspected the explosion was caused by gas cylinders. But officials later said that it was unlikely that any were at the site.

Police bomb squads with sniffer dogs were surveying the area on Saturday, which is expected to be cordoned off for several days.

Finns shocked
"This is the most serious accident since World War II in (the) Helsinki (region)," Eero Hirvensalo, a physician at Helsinki University Central Hospital, told AP.

Local journalist Mika Makelainen told CNN that the blast was an unprecedented situation and was very shocking for Finns in their relatively crime-free country.

The last time the Nordic country was rocked by an explosion was in July when a car bomb killed a Finn in what authorities said was probably a gangland attack.

The last time such a deadly peacetime incident occurred in Finland was in 1976 when 40 people died from an explosion at a munitions factory, Finnish news agency STT said.

President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen expressed their condolences. "This has never happened in Finland before. The explosion has shocked all of us Finns," Lipponen told YLE. "I can assure you that the government...will not rest until the guilty one or ones have been brought to justice."

The Myyrmanni shopping centre in Vantaa, a suburb about 15 km (10 miles) north of the capital, has 138 shops and restaurants. The 32,000 square metre mall was opened in 1994 and is run by Citycon, a Finnish property company.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/10/12/helsinki.explosion/index.html


If it was a bomb - Why the ****?
Why would anyone bomb Helsinki? :eek:
 
Could be the insane Black Metal Militia!!!

Sorry about the people killed, it just doesn't fit though...A bomb in Helsinki...?
 
Sad.... :(

I'm interested in how the Finish react to that - many of whom I talked to said terrorists bomb Israel and the US because of things they've done against them. What has Finland done to anyone? :confused:
 
I dont really know anything either about why it happened and I dont have much time to write a reply now either :(
 
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Bomb exploded yesterday 19:38 local time, about 18 hours ago. It was first speculated to be gas explosion,
or an accident of some sort, until it was realized that there should've not been any gas inside the mall.
Police reported at midnight that it was a bomb. PM has said now that it was not an accident, but an act of terror.

Ambulances & police arrived in few minutes and eradicated the area inside mall after the explosion.
4 people died instantly, and 3 have died in hospital. 10 people are on emergency, ~40 injured,
~20 got just few scars or similar stuff.

Why somebody would do this, that is the top question inside my head.
 
BTW wasn't there another attack in July?
 
BTW wasn't there another attack in July?
Some car exploded in Helsinki, yes, but nobody was injured, nobody was nearby, and the only reason
why Reuters informed you from it was that there was a jewish synagoga about 100 m. from the scene.
 
Actually I didn't know about the synagogue... I just remembered hearing something about it. And I don't why you find this attack troubling and asking yourself why did it happen, while you say the other attack was unimportant. Or do you know why the July attack happened?
 
Actually I didn't know about the synagogue... I just remembered hearing something about it. And I don't why you find this attack troubling and asking yourself why did it happen, while you say the other attack was unimportant. Or do you know why the July attack happened?

Well, because the police didn't called it as an 'attack' about a week after the start of
investigation's... Tabloids just got some lame topics about it, that's it. (It was an ACCIDENT)

All this is IIRC, however.
 
The car bomb was a criminal act if i'm not mistaken.

This one though... Odd.
 
Link to Finland's largest newspaper's coverage in English here.

No one has claimed responsibility so far. Officials consider a bomb the reason for the blast.

As one victim is still unidentified, suicide bombing is not ruled out.

When the blast occured a clown show for children was held at the mall. :(

I can't understand what possible political motivations this act could have. This is either a criminal act gone wrong or, more likely, the work of a single, sick mind. :(
 
The motive of the bomb earlier this year was personal revenge between criminals. Payback time, so to say.
 
That is so sad. :(
 
As one victim is still unidentified, suicide bombing is not ruled out.

Do you know what is the body condition? Is it in one peace or ten?
 
I dont know, but he had grey cloths, was tall and had size 45 shoes. If that says anything.
 
Whatever happened to crazy as a motivation?
 
It's possible and even likely he was mad but other possibilities should be checked as well.
 
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