No Bhutanese is reported to have been harmed or killed in Oslo bombing and in indiscriminate shooting on Utøya. The nearest Bhutanese apartment lies some 230 km away from the accident venue.
- A scene after the bomb blast in Oslo downtown. Photo/VGnett
The bombing occurred in Oslo downtown outside a government building. The authority has yet not revealed the identity of the deceased.
“Any Bhutanese could have not been present in the summer camp.” Chandra Chhetri, a Bhutanese resettled in Northern Norway said over telephone. Chhetri was one of the attendees in the camp last year.
“I could not believe that the things went so worst,” Chhetri said recalling how successful the camp had been last year.
“I was very shocked to learn about the rampage shootings at AUF youth camp in Utoya, Norway. I and on behalf of my friends from YOB would like to extend our deepest condolence and sympathy to victims and our solidarity to AUF to stay strong at this difficult hour.” Rajan Giri, President of Youth Organisation of Bhutan (YOB) wrote in his facebook status. Giri was present at the annual congress of AUF held in Oslo in October 2008.
Meanwhile, Shiva Adhikari, a Nepali citizen working in a diplomatic mission in Oslo said that there could be no any possibility for any Nepali to be present in summer camp. “If any Nepali was killed in Oslo bombing, it should have been known by now,” he added.
A powerful bomb exploded in downtown Oslo shortly before 3:30pm on Friday afternoon, causing extensive damage to government offices and scores of buildings in a wide radius. By early evening at least seven people were confirmed dead and 15 were hospitalized. The death toll was expected to rise.
- Police search the victims on the other side of Utøya. Photo/VGnett
About 3 hours after this terror attack in the political heart of the country, a shooting attack started at the annual summer camp for the youth organization of the Norwegian Labour Party, which currently leads Norway’s left-center government coalition. The summer camp was organized on Utøya, an island 35 km south-east of Oslo.
Survivors of the terror on Utøya told gripping tales of how campers approached suspected gunman Anders Behring Breivik in police uniform, regarding him as a police officer came as a safety measure after the bombing in Oslo, but unfortunately they experienced how he started shooting to the individuals in cold blood.
Newspaper VGnett quoted a young man as saying that he saw a girl who was shot in the head. Others ran for their lives, seeking refuge behind rocks or trees as the gunman continued his shooting spree around the small island in the Tyri Fjord.
Breivik, arrested by police and charged with the shootings, was described as a 32-year-old member of the Free Masons and a right-wing extremist who hates Muslims and multiculturalism. The purpose of shooting-massacre against so many youths is under investigation.
Oslo Police early today confirmed that 84 individuals were killed in Utøya shooting while 7 died in Oslo bombing. Meanwhile, they suspect that the death toll may rise. “Search and investigations are still under way,” a police officer said to TV2, one of the national TV channels in Norway.
In subsequent press conferences, Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian Prime Minister said, “We are a small nation, but a proud nation. No one shall bomb us to silence, no one shall shoot us to silence, no one shall scare us out of being Norway.”
- King Harald V of Norway
Through a televised message late Friday night, Norwegian King Harald condemned the terror attacks and requested the people to remain together. “Now it’s important that we stand together and support each other, and that we don’t let fear take over,” he said. Flags around Norway were ordered at half-mast on Saturday.
The attacks have been condemned internationally. “These attacks remind that the world has a common responsibility to avoid these types of terror attacks,” US President Barrak Obama said.
Nepali President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has extended sorrow over the loss of life of innocent citizens and property in Norway. In a condolence message sent to Norwegian King Harald V, President Yadav said, “At this hour of grief, on behalf of the government and people of Nepal as well as on my own, I extend to Your Majesty our heartfelt condolences and deep sympathies.”
This is the biggest national tragedy this peaceful Scandinavian country ever experienced after the World War II. While international media houses are busy talking about openness of Norwegian society, everybody is viewing silently how Norway reviews its policies basically related to national security and probably immigration politics when everybody’s attention is focused on the devastation caused by a young perpetrator who is guided by a sense of anti- multiculturalism.
