Police in Sweden have arrested a man after a lorry crashed into a Stockholm department store, killing at least four people.

The man was found in northern suburb of the city, after police released a grainy CCTV image of a person of interest.

The driver fled the scene after Friday's attack on a busy shopping street in the city centre.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has called it a terrorist attack.

More than a dozen people were injured.

The country's borders have been tightened at the prime minister's request.

People filmed fleeing the scene of the lorry attack

Eyewitness: 'I heard the screams'

The lorry crashed into the front of Ahlens department store in the middle of the afternoon on Drottninggatan (Queen Street), one of the city's major pedestrian thoroughfares.

The beer company that owns the vehicle said it was hijacked outside a nearby restaurant, where it was making a delivery.

Police wanted to speak to this man - a suspect matching his description was later arrested

Police shared the image of the man, dressed in a hooded jacket, early on Friday evening.

They confirmed a man resembling him was arrested in the Marsta area.

"We have investigated several people this evening, who we found interesting in one way or another, and recently we arrested someone we are very interested in," said police investigator Jan Evensson, referring to the Marsta arrest.

Emergency services worked late into the night

Central Stockholm was in lockdown after the incident.

In the immediate aftermath, shoppers took refuge in nearby buildings for hours, waiting for the area to be secured.

The central station, which is near the Ahlens store, was evacuated.

The metro, central roads and various bus lines were also shut.

City authorities made several spaces, including a number of schools, available as temporary accommodation for those who could not get home because of transport disruptions.

People were killed when a truck crashed into department store Ahlens on Drottninggatan, in central Stockholm, Sweden AprilImage copyrightREUTERS

Image caption

The lorry crashed into the front of the Ahlens department store

Eyewitnesses described horrifying scenes outside the store, as bodies and injured people lay on the ground.

In a speech on Friday night, Prime Minister Lofven said Swedish values of democracy and freedom would not be "undermined by hatred".

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by BBC News

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