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Timeline: How the Norway terror attacks unfolded

Tim Moynihan
Saturday 23 July 2011 12:12 BST
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Here is a timeline of the terror attacks in Norway (times in BST).

Friday July 22:

1430: A loud explosion shatters windows and leads to evacuations of office buildings near the government headquarters in Oslo city centre. The buildings include the office of prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is soon confirmed to be safe, as he was working at home.

1545: There are reports that at least one person has been killed in the explosion.

1615: It is confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb.

1645: It is confirmed that there are injuries in addition to the death and some people are trapped at the bomb site.

1700: Police confirm two people are dead and 15 injured.

1745: Police say they are sending anti-terror police to a youth camp on an island outside Oslo after reports of a shooting there. The news site VG reports that a man dressed in a police uniform has opened fire at the camp at Utoya, and several people are injured.

1815: Norway Labour Party spokesman Per Gunnar Dahl says a man has been shooting at youths assembled for the party's annual youth camp at Utoya. Unconfirmed reports are that five people were hit. He says around 700 people, mostly teenagers aged 14 to 18, were assembled for the camp.

1835: It is reported that one person has been arrested after the youth camp shooting.

1845: Britain condemns the "horrific" bomb blast. Foreign Secretary William Hague says the UK stands "shoulder to shoulder" with Norway following the attack.

1850: Police say they suspect the two incidents in Norway are linked.

1900: It is confirmed that seven people died in the bomb blast.

Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls the blast a "heinous act".

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, expresses his "utmost shock" over the blast. He says an attack of this magnitude was not "something one would expect in Norway, famously associated with peace at home and peacemaking abroad".

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton calls the violence "despicable".

1920: US President Barack Obama says the bombing is a reminder that the world has a role in stopping such terror from happening.

1945: An eyewitness to the shootings says he saw more than 20 bodies.

Mr Stoltenberg says: "Co-workers have lost their lives today... it's frightening. That's not how we want things in our country. But it's important that we don't let ourselves be scared. Because the purpose of that kind of violence is to create fear."

2035: Prime Minister David Cameron says he was "outraged" to hear about the two attacks. He says: "My thoughts are with the wounded and those who have lost friends and family, and I know everyone in Britain will feel the same."

2050: Police say the man arrested after the shooting is linked to the bombing in Oslo. It emerges that Mr Stoltenberg had been due to speak at the summer camp on Saturday.

2055: Police say that nine or 10 people were killed in the shooting.

2150: Norway's justice minister says the gunman is Norwegian.

2340: Police say the attacks do not appear to be linked to Islamist terrorism, saying they were more Norway's "Oklahoma City" than "World Trade Centre".

Saturday July 23:

0040: It emerges that bomb disposal teams are searching for unexploded devices on Utoya. A police source says there is at least one device at the camp which is being disarmed. The gunman is named in reports as Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, 32.

The suspect is said to have acted alone, with no links to international terrorist organisations.

0250: At least 80 people were killed in the shooting, police say.

0450: Police say the suspect had right-wing and anti-Muslim views, but the motive for the attacks was unclear. They warn the death toll from the shootings could rise, and others are severely injured. "This seems like a madman's work," an official says.

0850: The suspect posted on websites with Christian fundamentalist tendencies, police say. The man is co-operating with police and wants to explain himself, they add.

The death toll from the shooting stands at 84 and with the bombing it is 91.

1015: Buckingham Palace says the Queen has written to the King of Norway to express her shock and sadness at the attacks in his country. She said her thoughts, and those of the Duke of Edinburgh, were with the Norwegian people.

PA

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