A terror ramming attack Friday that left four people dead and 15 injured in Stockholm could have been worse, according to Swedish police.
Officials said security personnel found “a bomb or an incendiary object” in the truck used in the attack.
The suspected killer was identified as a 39-year-old Uzbekistani national who was known to Swedish security services, but he was described as a “marginal character.”
Sources told Sky News on Saturday the suspected terrorist “burned” himself while trying – and failing – to detonate the homemade bomb in the truck he drove into a crowd of pedestrians at the Ahlens City shopping mall.
The man has been formally accused “of terrorist offenses by murder” and is expected to appear at a pre-trial custody hearing before midday Tuesday, by which time he must be charged, or freed.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack by any terrorist organization thus far, despite the similarity of the attack to those of terrorists linked to the Islamic State terror group.
Swedish citizens appeared largely shocked by the attack, with many bringing flowers to the site, and some bringing their children to teach them they must pay tribute to the victims, international media reported.
Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria also visited the site, laying a bouquet of roses on the ground Saturday and wiping away a tear, according to Fox News. She told reporters, “We must show a huge force, we must go against this.”