Large explosion in central Oslo

There has been a major explosion in downtown Oslo. Windows are broken in VG-built and government officials in Oslo.

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The case updated

It is not yet possible to say how many people are injured or killed in the explosion. But police now acknowledge that there are fatalities.

NTB reported that two confirmed fatalities.

Police have not yet complete overview of the number of casualties.

- Oil and Energy was the goal

According to Dagbladet, police said the attack targeted the Oil and Energy Affairs, MOE.

The greatest damage is the R4 building in ministries, the police said.

This is supported by information from the Communications Minister, Earl Smith-Isaksen.

- The premises of the OED is battered. It looks like it was right outside our offices, says Smith-Isaksen to Aftenposten.no.

Treats people on the street

The building that houses, among other things, the Prime Minister’s office is also affected by the explosion.

Aftenposten.no have informed the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK), Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is the safety and undamaged.

- I can not say for certain, everything is chaotic, says Sindre Fossum Beyer at SMK.

Paramedics treat more injured in the street outside the government building.

Many people are bleeding in the street outside, hit by broken glass that fell from the broken windows.

- You can not go through here, because there are still two bombs we do not know where is, police on site to Aftenposten.no reporters.

Aftenposten.no has so far failed to confirm whether it still bombs that have not been located.

Trying to get an overview

Several facilities in nearby have been evacuated, including NTB premises.

- All we know is that there is a kind of explosion. We are on the way out there, are the short and hasty message Aftenposten.no get the police in Oslo for the call just after half past four.

In a press release from the Oslo police are the following:

Large parts of the city center is evacuated, and police urge the public not to stay in Oslo.

Police also ask that pulbikum limits the use of mobile phones.

Several injured

Both windows in the government quarter and VG building is blown out, according to Aftenposten’s report on the site.

- The police tell us that we need to get us off, we need to get off. There may be more bombs, tells reporters.

They say that there is broken glass everywhere, the burning of buildings.

- I see people with blood on his face and hands, telling Aftenposten reporter.

Eyewitnesses said, according to NTB, it may look like a car outside a high block has been the basis for the explosion.

Entire facades blown out

Our reporter passed Market Street and there is full chaos people running around bewildered. Several places are a fire alarm.

You can smell the sulfur fumes.

Shop Denim Gallery has received throughout the facade blown out.

Rods of increasing areas

A huge røyksy rose several hundred feet in the air. Large parts of Oslo heard a huge explosion which led to Darren Hayes, the Aftenposten keeps house literally shook when the explosion took place at five at half four in the afternoon.

Press The wave was so powerful that the windows all the way down to the National Agencies building was blown out.

Vaterland tunnel is closed.

The area between Stortorvet, Hammersborg and Storgata is blocked off. Young town square is already closed, because the police fear that new explosions can occur.

There have been several unconfirmed reports that it also should have been a violent explosion in Parliament Street, just below the Parliament, according to NTB.

It is still unclear what caused the explosion.

The report of the first bombing was followed by reports of a two more bombs, as reported in this Google Translation.

There may be more bombs

The police on site tell Dagbladet.

(Dagbladet): A little before 15.30 in the afternoon, large parts of the city center hit by a huge explosion in the government quarter .

About a half hour later told NRK that the capital was hit by another explosion, this time in Parliament Street. This message disprove NRK now on their website.

Police at the site told Dagbladet that they fear the new bombs.

- There may be more bombs, police said.

According to Aftenposten.no there are still two bombs the police do not know where is.

- You can not go through here, because there are still two bombs we do not know where is, according to police Aftenposten.no .

The scope of the first explosion is still unclear, but many are injured. Much of the area Youngstorget was hit and routes are broken into several apartment buildings and construction.

- There are a lot of injured people in the area, many seriously injured.There is injured inside the area with excessive bleeding.All the buildings are destroyed, it is absolutely awful, says Jan Larsen told newspaper Dagbladet.

If there are indeed multiple bombs it is clearly the calling card of an Al-Qaeda terrorist attack which are executed with precision in multiple locations.

The problem is there is absolutely no motive for Al-Qaeda to launch an attack against Norway since Norway supports the formation of a Palestinian state, which is against the wishes of Israel and in support of Muslim activists world-wide.

Norway to support Palestinians – Norwegian FM

Image Credit: Flickr.com/andedam/cc-by-nc-sa 3.0

Norway will support Palestinians who are set to press for recognition of the independence of their state by the United Nations, says the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

He was speaking following his talks in Oslo with the Palestinian National Administration Head Mahmoud Abbas.

Støre said he saw a likely recognition of Palestine’s independence by the United Nations as no hindrance to a peaceful settlement in the Middle East. He said the Palestinian-Israeli talks should continue irrespectively of the UN voting results.

Source: The Voice of Russia

If this in fact an Al-Qaeda attack a blaring question remains. Why would Al-Qaeda attack a nation whose goals are aligned with the goals of the Al-Qaeda movement?

The simple answer would be this is a false flag terror attack and the likely suspect for carrying out the operation would be the Israeli Mossad as an act of revenge for supporting Palestine.

Update 11:25 AM

BBC Reports:

Oslo: Bomb blast near Norway prime minister’s office

Eyewitness: “Police are beginning to seal off streets where there is a danger of falling glass”

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A large bomb blast has hit near government headquarters in the Norwegian capital Oslo, killing at least one person.

The offices of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg were damaged extensively – a government spokeswoman said he was safe.

Police said a number of people were injured in the city centre explosion.

No-one has said they were behind the attack, which witnesses said could be heard across the capital.

Television footage from the scene showed rubble and glass from shattered windows in the streets – smoke was rising from some buildings. The wreckage of at least one car was on one street.

All roads into the city centre have been closed, said national broadcaster NRK, and security officials evacuated people from the area, fearing another blast.

“Police can confirm there were deaths and injuries following the explosion in the government quarter this afternoon,” police said in a statement.

Oistein Mjarum, head of communications for the Norwegian Red Cross, said his offices were close to the site of the explosion.

“There was a massive explosion which could be heard over the capital Oslo,” he told the BBC.

Government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste told the Associated Press Mr Stoltenberg was safe. Initial reports said he was not hurt.

A spokesman for Oslo University hospital said seven people had been taken there for treatment.

“I don’t know how seriously wounded they are,” he told Reuters.
‘Complete chaos’

Mr Mjarum said there were fires burning in the prime minister’s 17-storey building.

“This is a very busy area on Friday afternoon and there was a lot of people in the streets, and many people working in these buildings that are now burning,” he said.

Eyewitness Ole Tommy Pedersen said he was standing at a bus stop about 100m away from the blast.

“I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later,” Mr Pedersen told AP.

He said there was a cloud of smoke billowing from the lower floors.

An NRK journalist, Ingunn Andersen, said the headquarters of tabloid newspaper VG had also been damaged.

“I see that some windows of the VG building and the government headquarters have been broken. Some people covered with blood are lying in the street,” AP quoted her as saying.

“It’s complete chaos here. The windows are blown out in all the buildings close by.”

Mr Mjarum said people were in shock in Oslo and across Norway.

“We have never had a terrorist attack like this in Norway – if that’s what it is – but of course this has been a great fear for all Norwegians when they have seen what has been happening around the world.”

Source: BBC

Aftermath of explosion in central Oslo, Norway - 22 July 2011

Smoke billows over Oslo, 22 July

Debris is seen on the street after the explosion in central Oslo, 22 July

Rescuers tend to an injured person after the blast in Oslo, 22 July

Shattered windows in a multi-storey building after the blast in Oslo, 22 July