Second suspect arrested over Stockholm truck attack: Court

Forensic police investigators work at the crime scene in central Stockholm on April 8, 2017, a day after a truck plowed into pedestrians on Drottninggatan. PHOTO: REUTERS

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A second suspect was arrested on Sunday (April 9) in connection with the Stockholm truck attack that killed four people and injured 15, a district court said.

"I can confirm that a second person has been arrested," Stockholm district court judge Helga Hullman told AFP.

The new suspect, whose identity was not disclosed, is being investigated about a "terrorist crime (by committing) murder", Ms Karin Rosander, a spokesman at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, told public broadcaster SVT.

The prosecution has until Wednesday to ask a court to remand the suspect in custody, she said.

A first suspect has been officially identified as a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan who "applied for a permanent residency permit in 2014", a request that was later rejected, police said on Sunday.

On Friday, the 39-year-old is alleged to have barrelled 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.

The motive for the attack is not known.

Thousands of people were to gather in central Stockholm on Sunday for a "Lovefest" vigil against terrorism.

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