• Police were alerted at 9.02 am on Friday morning. One person told me that it heard a loud bang on Hamngatan in central Linköping. It turned out to be an explosion that had occurred at a property at the intersection of Hamngatan / Ådalagatan.
  • The explosion occurred at a five-story building . The windows and balconies were destroyed by the explosion. The house contains housing, business premises, a preschool, a traffic school and the City Mission's children's operations.
  • The cause of the explosion is unclear, but police suspect someone has placed an explosive charge just outside one of the properties.
  • About 20 people were injured in the explosion, all of them mild to moderate. Seven people were taken to hospitals. On Saturday morning, two people were still being cared for in hospital, a 76-year-old man who was operated on urgently and a 70-year-old man. According to the hospital, both had minor injuries and on Saturday afternoon both men could have left the hospital.
  • The area around the property and several neighborhoods nearby were blocked off during Friday. At 11.45am, the police announced that they had searched all the properties concerned, but the blockage remained.
  • Several people have had their apartments destroyed. The worst affected is a property on Ådalagatan 1-3 with 37 apartments and the property on Ådalagatan 2B with 20 apartments. The municipal property company Stångåstaden has a total of 131 apartments that were closed off 24 hours after the explosion. According to the Fire Protection Association, about 250 apartments have been more or less damaged.
  • The University Hospital in Linköping went into disaster mode at 10.54 am on Friday. At the same time, the Vrinevis Hospital in Norrköping and the Lasarettet in Motala went into reinforcement mode. At 12.05, the level was lowered to the reinforcement position at the University Hospital in Linköping and at 12.50 the Region Östergötland went down to staff position just like the University Hospital in Linköping.
  • Police launched a preliminary investigation into the destruction of public property during Friday morning. At 13.00 a press conference was held with Region Östergötland, Linköping Municipality, the Rescue Service, the Police and Stångåstaden and at 16.00 on Friday the police in Linköping held a press conference. At that, the police stated that at present they do not know what caused the explosion, except that it is some kind of explosive. The preliminary assessment is that the explosion occurred outside the building, and that it is not a terrorist act. No certain target is confirmed, but one of the working hypotheses is that some form of serious organized crime is behind the explosion, the investigative leader stated.
  • At 9 am on Saturday morning , several of the tenants were allowed to come into their apartments and collect personal belongings. It will probably take a few days before they can move home. For 57 of the apartments, this is probably a longer evacuation, according to the property owner.
  • Saturday afternoon, the police had not yet arrested anyone and there was no suspect yet. The police follow up several different tracks. It is suspected that someone has placed an explosive charge just outside one of the properties and would like tips if someone has seen people and vehicles around the place. The police are now also receiving support from NOA, the police's national operational department, in the investigation.
  • At 14 o'clock on Saturday, the bomb technicians were ready with their investigation , but the police are waiting for analysis of any traces before they can say anything more about what caused the explosion. Police technicians will investigate the scene throughout the weekend.
  • At 5.30pm on Saturday, there were still no arrested persons and no new information had emerged in the investigation, according to the police spokesperson.

Photo: SVT