A man has died after he picked up an unidentified object from the ground near a subway station in Stockholm that detonated in his hand, while another person was injured, Sweden’s national broadcaster SVT reports.
Swedish police could not immediately confirm the death.
The explosion took place Sunday morning just outside the Varby Gard subway station in Huddinge — a residential district in greater Stockholm, said Stockholm regional police spokesperson Sven-Erik Olsson. He said a woman with the man received minor wounds to her face and both legs from the blast.
Swedish police cordon off the area outside the Varby Gard subway station, where there was some kind of explosion on Sunday. The Swedish national broadcaster SVT reports an unidentified device detonated, killing a man and injuring a woman. (Henrik Montgomery/TT via AP)
“The man was seriously hurt injured after he picked up something from the ground and this device exploded,” Olsson said, adding that experts were examining the object.
The Swedish tabloids Aftonbladet and Expressen claimed the device may have been a hand grenade, but Olsson dismissed that as speculation.
The man, in his 60s, was rushed to hospital with serious injuries while the woman, in her mid-40s, received “minor wounds” to face and both legs, Olsson said.
Police initially were investigating the incident as an attempted murder, but later said there is no reason to believe that the couple was targeted. Olsson said nothing has indicated that terrorism was involved.
Olsson said police were scanning and sweeping through the area the subway station to make sure no additional explosive devices were around.
