Swedish police say Gothenburg explosion unrelated to organized crime

Police in Sweden have announced they have a suspect in the case of the explosion and subsequent fire in a residential building in Gothenburg on Tuesday.

Gothenburg police said on Thursday that they were searching for an unnamed male suspect they believe was responsible for the blast, which seriously injured several people.

Officers working the case spoke for the first time in terms of a deliberate explosion rather than an accidental one.

However, regional police chief Klas Johansson also told reporters that the investigation had so far uncovered no connection between the explosion and the city's organized crime gangs.

According to Swedish public broadcaster SVT, the suspect is about 55 years old and is believed to have been a resident of the apartment building where the blast went off.

People seriously injured

After the initial blast, a fire broke out in the building from which at least 16 people were hospitalized, four of them with serious injuries.

As such incidents in Sweden have been linked to criminal gangs in recent years, it was initially suspected that there could be a connection in this case as well.