More than 20,000 people took to the street in Stockholm for a “Lovefest” vigil against terrorism on Sunday, two days after a truck attack that killed four and injured dozens. Linking arms, under flags flying at half-mast, the crowd held a minute of silence for the victims.
“We don’t respond with fear, we respond with love,” read one poster held by a woman wearing a headscarf.
“Fear shall not reign. Terror cannot win,” Stockholm mayor Karin Wanngard told the crowd, saying terrorism would be defeated with “kindness and openness”.
Two men have been arrested in Stockholm after Friday’s fatal lorry attack, one of them is believed to be the driver, Swedish police say. Four people were killed and 15 were injured when the lorry crashed into the front of a department store. Police have only identified the suspected driver, arrested hours after the attack, as a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan. Swedish media on Sunday gave his name as Rakhmat Akilov, a construction worker and father of four.
A second suspect has also been formally placed under arrest over the attack, Stockholm district court judge Helga Hullman said Sunday, revealing no information about his link to the Uzbek.
A Romanian among the injured
A Romanian woman was injured in the lorry attack in Stockholm on Friday, April 7, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday.
According to MAE spokesperson, Paul Ciocoiu, the injured was a Romanian woman, who has undergone surgery. The victim suffered a leg fracture, but her condition is stable now.
Previously, MAE had announced that a Romanian citizen had been injured in the lorry attack, without mentioning if there was a man or a woman. “According to the latest information provided by the Romanian diplomatic mission, a Romanian citizen was affected by the attack, being admitted in a hospital in Stockholm in stable condition. A diplomat went to the medical unit to grant support,” reads the MAE press release.
The Romanian embassy to Sweden is monitoring the case and is ready to provide consular assistance if needed.
The Romanian woman injured in the Stockholm attack is a 83-year-old Roma woman, getting a living from beggary.
When the lorry hit the crowd on Friday, Papusa Ciuraru was at her usual place, begging for money.
“People were screaming around me, I thought the war began. I tried to get up and run, but a big concrete piece fell on my leg (…) I thought all were going to step over me to save themselves,” she recounted, as quoted by TVR public broadcaster.
However, she reminds that two people approached her, one of them was riding a bike. They took her to a hotel where she received first aid. Later on, she was admitted to St. Göran’s hospital, where she underwent a leg surgery. Her condition is stable.
One Romanian woman died and her boyfriend was injured in the latest terror attack in London when a truck hit the crowd on Westminster Bridge.