Swedes to hold peace vigil after truck attack, probe deepens

Thousands of people were to gather in central Stockholm on Sunday for a "Lovefest" vigil against terrorism, as police pursue their investigation into this week's deadly truck attack.

Shocked by Friday's attack that left four dead and 15 injured — for which a 39-year-old Uzbek man is in custody — Stockholmers mobilised on Facebook, organising a vigil for 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) at the Sergels Torg plaza near where the truck rammed into shoppers. Sweden has been trying to get back on its feet this weekend after what authorities termed a terror attack, the motive for which was still unknown. The method, however, was similar to previous attacks using vehicles in Nice, Berlin and London, all of them claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the Stockholm attack — the third in Europe in two weeks, coming on the heels of the car and knife assault outside London's parliament and the Saint Petersburg metro bombing. Police have not named the suspected driver of the truck, whom they arrested on Friday evening, but authorities said he was known to Sweden's intelligence service for undisclosed reasons.

The man is suspected of speeding a stolen beer truck several hundred metres down the bustling pedestrian street Drottninggatan in the heart of Stockholm. The vehicle mowed down shoppers before slamming into the facade of the busy Ahlens department store. "There is nothing to indicate that we've got the wrong man. On the contrary, the suspicions have strengthened," Swedish police chief Dan Eliasson said on Saturday. He said police found a suspect device in the cab of the truck.