Someone has also opened fire at a youth camp. The gunman was dressed as a policeman and "several people have been shot".
Norway's 9/11. I can hear it now.
Added at: 11:46
There's a guy on Reddit who is giving live updates on this.
http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/iwsj7/huge_explosion_in_downtown_oslo/
Here's what he has so far:
The fuck is this? Any possibility at all of accident? When I heard it I thought it was thunder or an accident at the building site next to me.
edit: Seems that the newspaper
VG was hardest hit. It lies close the majority of the government buildings in oslo.
edit2:
Lots of shattered windows on a government building
edit3:
smoke cloud in the city centre
edit4: Rain until midday sunday and then this, great weekend.
edit5:
Live Norwegian News, via Swedish Television in order to get around norway-only block.
edit6:
Picture of damage
edit7:
Supposedly there was a second explosion 30 minutes after the first (via google-translate), I didn't hear the second one. TV is saying the explosion was from the 4th story.
edit8:
BBC article on event
edit9: Supposedly there was a second explosion a few hundred meters away.
edit10: Politician who was close by at time of explosion said he noticed a strong smell of explosives/gunpowder.
edit11:
Lots of pictures from state TV's reporting.
edit12: Loop of damage being shown on state TV shows a car that is seriously damaged and flipped.
edit13: Experts on norwegian TV says that it's the political heart of Norway that is damaged. But it occurred on a friday during summer vacation. I just feel that they are already sensationalizing it, but that's just my opinion.
edit14: One person confirmed dead.
edit15:
Article in Norwegian with pictures of damage to main government office building
edit16:
BBC News stream,
Al Jazeera stream
edit17: BBC just zoomed in on smoke, looked like a cloud to me
edit18: 7 patients have arrived at main hospital (ullevål). Main hospital in emergency mode (calling in more employees, making more room for patients).
edit19: I'm starting to doubt edit7 (that there was a second explosion further away), no follow up on the news from it.
edit20:
VG confirms that several people are dead
edit21:
Dagbladet says police confirm it was a bomb
edit22:
Probably a large car-bomb
edit23: Press confrence by Oslo-police in 10 minutes, I'll update. Fire department have stopped their activity, seems like fires are out.
edit24: 9 People now in the hospital, still "several" people dead. Large portions of city centre closed of due to fears that there are more bombs.
edit25:
Google Streetview before the explosion, this is the focus of several loops running on the news.
Picture of same place after explosion
edit26: Press conference was short and improvised. Main target was oil and energy department. He confirmed that the prime minister was safe. He would not comment on the oil or justice minister, and said "
We know that people are injured, but not who"
edit27: Several cars being towed and pushed away from the scene, one car significantly more damaged than others. Extremely likely it was a car bomb but no confirmation yet. More official press-conference soon.
edit28: Several large commuter hotspots closed. Oslo airport working as normal, but heightened security with real police in addition to the normal G4S posers. From the hospital 10 patients, 9 seriously hurt. They think all of the most seriously injured are there. They can not comment on deaths, since deaths do not arrive at the hospital. Oslo Police press conference soon.
edit29:
Video of damage Watch for that car around 0:59
edit30: Paraphrased the press confrence:
Explosion 15:26, two confirmed dead, 15 injured. Police have secured the scene, technicians (?), bomb squad, firemen at scene. All available police at work, policemen have their vacation cut short. Police urge the public to leave Oslo City until police have full control over situation. Police do not have a motive to go by despite all of the speculation. One or more bombs, no warning before attack, possibility of car used [I've been thinking this for a long time, no confirmation of car bomb]
, TV2 News station evacuated due to package. Everything that the police considers a target is evacuated. Too early to consider link to terror-suspect-case earlier in the year. 8001502800 is the hot-line for victims and their families etc. Police want tips, I missed the number. Police urge people to go home and avoid large crowds [I think it's due to fear of other bombs]
The situation is not over, and the police are considering it as current/happening now That's basically it. Another press conference in about an hours.
edit30b: Via
nycerene: >
It's (+47) 815 02 800, and the number for witnesses is (+47) 22 66 99 66.
edit31: Also today, a shooting at a summercamp for the youth section of the Labour party. Large strain on the police departments of south-eastern norway today. The police was not willing to comment on a link beyond that.
Aftenposten via Google-Translate
edit32: Interview with PM:
thinking about victims copypasta, in contact with defence minister, justice minister. the cabinets emergency council is assembeled. Not willing to speculate on motive, he will update as soon as he knows more. [So the justice and defence minister are also confirmed alive, he did not comment on oil minister.]
edit33: More info on the summer camp shooting, several people injured. Speculation that it is a coordinated attack. Little information from the camp. The camp is the annual Youth Labour Party summercamp. The Labour party is the major player in the coalation government of norway which has been in power since 2005 (?). The other two parties are SP (centrist farmer party) and SV (leftist socialist).
Police confirm at least one shot, it was a man dressed as a police officer that shot.
edit34:
Wikipedia article on the explosion, thanks to
Feuraeu
edit35: Mini press conference by police. *There are dead people in the buildings, they have been declared dead and left by rescue personnel who are looking for the living. No comment on how many people are dead. Few leads in the rest of the city center, nothing they want to comment on. No longer fear of more explosions by police. *
edit36: Regarding the shooting, there is a police helicopter over the island where the camp is. Many campers evacuated, many people ran to swim away. A boat with a
swat team recently left in a boat towards the islands. Shots still heard from the island. Reporter:
There's a little war out there