OSLO, Norway - A homegrown terrorist set off a deadly explosionin downtown Oslo before heading to a summer camp dressed as a policeofficer to commit one of the deadliest shooting sprees in history,killing at least 80 people as terrified youths ran and swam fortheir lives, police said.
Police initially said about 10 were killed at the forested campon the island of Utoya, but some survivors said they thought thetoll was much higher. Police director Oystein Maeland said earlytoday they had discovered many more victims.
"What we know now is that we can say that there are at least 80killed at Utoya," he said. "It goes without saying that this givesdimensions to this incident that are exceptional."
A suspect in the shootings and the Oslo explosion that killedseven people was arrested. Though police did not release his name,Norwegian national broadcaster NRK identified him as Anders BehringBreivik, 32.
Breivik had registered a farm-related business in Rena, ineastern Norway, which authorities said allowed him to order a largequantity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an ingredient that can beused to make explosives. Authorities were investigating whether thechemical may have been used in the bombing.
National police chief Sveinung Sponheim told NRK that thesuspected gunman's Internet postings "suggest that he has somepolitical traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views,but whether that was a motivation for the actual act remains to beseen."
Another police official said the attack "is probably moreNorway's Oklahoma City than it is Norway's World Trade Center."Domestic terrorists carried out the 1995 attack on a federalbuilding in Oklahoma City, while foreign terrorists were responsiblefor the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The official added, however, "it's still just hours since theincident happened. And the investigation is going on with allavailable resources."
The attacks formed the deadliest day of terror in Western Europesince the 2004 Madrid train bombings, when bombs exploded, killing191 people and wounding about 1,800.
Both attacks were in areas of Norway connected to the liberalLabor Party government. The youth camp, about 20 miles northwest ofOslo, is organized by the party's youth wing, and Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg had been scheduled to speak there today.
A 15-year-old camper named Elise said she heard gunshots, butthen saw a police officer and thought she was safe. Then he startedshooting people.
"I saw many dead people," said Elise. "He first shot people onthe island. Afterward he started shooting people in the water."
Elise said she hid behind the same rock that the killer wasstanding on.
"I could hear his breathing from the top of the rock," she said.
At a hotel in the village of Sundvollen, where survivors of theshooting were taken, 21-year-old Dana Berzingi wore pants stainedwith blood. He said the fake police officer ordered people to comecloser, then pulled weapons and ammunition from a bag and startedshooting.
Several victims "had pretended as if they were dead to survive,"Berzingi said. But after shooting the victims with one gun, thegunman shot them again in the head with a shotgun, he said.
The blast in Oslo, Norway's capital and the city where the NobelPeace Prize is awarded, left a square covered in twisted metal,shattered glass and documents expelled from surrounding buildings.
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Shooting ranks with worst in history
Some of the world's worst mass shootings:
July 22, 2011: At least 80 people are killed at a summer camp onthe Norwegian island of Utoya. A man arrested also is suspected in afatal blast in Oslo.
April 16, 2007: Seung-Hui Cho, 23, kills 32 people and himself onVirginia Tech campus.
April 28, 1996: Martin Bryant, 29, shoots 20 people to death in acafeteria in Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia. Driving away, hekills 15 others. He was captured and imprisoned.
Oct. 16, 1991: In Killeen, Texas, George Hennard opens fire at aLuby's Cafeteria, killing 23 people before taking his own life.
July 18, 1984: James Oliver Huberty kills 21 people in aMcDonald's in San Ysidro, Calif. A police sharpshooter killsHuberty.
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