A truck drives into pedestrians in Stockholm, Sweden killing at least 3 and injuring many more

BBC and Sky News wrote:Police say a number of people have been injured after a large truck was driven into crowds in Drottninggatan, a main shopping street in central Stockholm.

The incident took place on Drottninggatan (Queen Street), one of the city's major pedestrian streets, just before 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

Witnesses told local media they saw a truck driving into a department store window, and they have seen people on the ground, with minimum of 3 deceased.

According to the Sweedish paper Aftonbladet, one eye witness said she saw "hundreds of people" running for their lives.

Local media is reporting that gunshots were also heard from the scene with horrific images showing pools of blood in the street.

Shots have also reportedly been fired in another part of the city, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, citing security sources.

It is not yet known if the two incidents are connected.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39531108
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04 ... stockholm/

Accidental or terrorism, it's the scenario you just can't stop unless you bollard off every single pedestrian area. I always think trees in those contrete bases or round balls are always a good idea.

strawberry float sake, here we go again.

*sigh*

Here we go again. Islamic terrorism, angry white guy (Because they're not also terrorists for some reason) or terrible accident?

I'm gonna discount the last one because of the gunshot reports, but this is all becoming horrifyingly mundane and routine.

The evil bastards of the world have found a way to kill lots of people that can never really be stopped. It might (however unlikely) be possible to stop bombs and guns and even knives, but how can you ever stop somebody getting into a car, van or truck and doing this sort of thing?

Arseholes.

Yep, there's pretty much no defence against this as cars and trucks are so vital.
Everything that could stop this would also affect everyone negatively and be cripplingly expensive.

Local media reporting that the company that owns the truck are saying it was either hijacked or stolen as the driver was unloading it, so if that turns out to be the case I think it's pretty obvious what's happened.

Sky News via the AP are saying some sort of shooting incident is taking place within the vicinity too.

strawberry float these banana splits, this isn't something that's ever going to go away now. This tactic is now a legit strategy for anyone wanting to kill lots of people, not just your common garden Islamic terrorists.

It's the easiest lone wolf attack. Grab a vehicle and drive it through a pedestrianised area. It's as simple as that. You don't need to trawl the internet, communicate with terrorists (though they usually do, because ther're more often than not radicalised by somebody) or source a weapon to be able to pull this off. You could easily just be some guy in a bad mood.

KK wrote:I always think trees in those contrete bases or round balls are always a good idea.

More trees is a great idea.

Such a horrible, pointless attack

strawberry float, was walking down Drottningaten only a few months ago. Horrible.

banana split.

Two confirmed dead, possibly a third. :cry:

Telegraph wrote:The Local reports that the Swedish brewery company Spendrups, which owns the truck, said it had been hijacked earlier in the day, reports Peter Foster.

"It's one of our distribution vehicles which runs deliveries. During a delivery to the restaurant Caliente someone jumped into the driver's cabin and drove off with the car, while the driver unloads," communication director Mårten Lyth told the TT news agency.

Train and metro services throughout the city have also been suspended.

The Watching Artist wrote:
KK wrote:I always think trees in those contrete bases or round balls are always a good idea.

More trees is a great idea.

I do think we'll start seeing the majority of pedestrian areas (that can be accessed by vehicles) populated with these concrete obstacles, it's the only cheap measure that you can easily replicate in cities and towns around the world. Very low tech but probably the most effective defence.

Preezy wrote:
The Watching Artist wrote:
KK wrote:I always think trees in those contrete bases or round balls are always a good idea.

More trees is a great idea.

I do think we'll start seeing the majority of pedestrian areas (that can be accessed by vehicles) populated with these concrete obstacles, it's the only cheap measure that you can easily replicate in cities and towns around the world. Very low tech but probably the most effective defence.

With some thought and effort there is no reason these things couldn't be interesting objects to look at. Or provide features and facilities (like seating, bins, maps). Thinking about my town center the main issue would be where the pedestrian areas have roads nearby for buses. Mind you I think about it now and there are lots of potential access points. Not sure you can really hope to block everything off.

Fortunately Worthing isn't a terrorist hotspot......... yet.

Preezy wrote:
The Watching Artist wrote:
KK wrote:I always think trees in those contrete bases or round balls are always a good idea.

More trees is a great idea.

I do think we'll start seeing the majority of pedestrian areas (that can be accessed by vehicles) populated with these concrete obstacles, it's the only cheap measure that you can easily replicate in cities and towns around the world. Very low tech but probably the most effective defence.

While that will protect some areas, they will just find an unprotected area. There are just too many pavements in a town or city to ever be able to fully protect people.

Terrorists are cottoning on to the fact that a vehicle is every much, nay more, a weapon than a knife, bomb or gun

Moggy wrote:
Preezy wrote:
The Watching Artist wrote:
KK wrote:I always think trees in those contrete bases or round balls are always a good idea.

More trees is a great idea.

I do think we'll start seeing the majority of pedestrian areas (that can be accessed by vehicles) populated with these concrete obstacles, it's the only cheap measure that you can easily replicate in cities and towns around the world. Very low tech but probably the most effective defence.

While that will protect some areas, they will just find an unprotected area. There are just too many pavements in a town or city to ever be able to fully protect people.

In some towns I could see some businesses arguing against bollards blocking the pedestrian areas as they're sometimes the only way for them to get deliveries, so delivery vans/small trucks drive into the pedestrian areas.
I suppose a compromise is those electronic bollards that can be raised/lowered, but those are more expensive and neither councils nor businesses are going to want to stump up the cost.

I think Staydead brought up crash barriers in the Westminster thread. It's a good idea in principle, but would cost too much and would be impractical for a lot of places.

It always sucks to hear about stuff like this. I don't think we've heard the last of attacks like this unfortunately.

Corazon de Leon

Scottish Daily Record has - unspoilered - an image of a dog that got hit with the truck in Stockholm lying on the ground, evidently dead, with its guts hanging out of its stomach.

A truck drives into pedestrians in Stockholm, Sweden killing at least 3 and injuring many more

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