Swedish police launch murder investigation after man stabbed to death during 'fight' at refugee centre
Police charged one man for murder and attempted murder
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Your support makes all the difference.A man has been stabbed to death and three more injured during a fight at a refugee centre in Sweden.
Police charged one man for murder and attempted murder on Sunday, and said three other man they had released earlier remained suspects. The victim's identity was not revealed.
“A preliminary investigation for murder and attempted murder is ongoing following the death of one person in a fight,” police said in a statement.
A resident of the refugee centre, located in Ljusne, 150 miles north of Stockholm, told the Hela Halsingland newspaper a rival group from another centre had come armed with knives in an escalating dispute which had started several weeks previously.
"They had eight to nine knives," the man, referred to as Ali, said. "I was stabbed in the back when I was helping one of my friends who was holding back the arm of a guy who had a knife."
He told the paper the group who were attacked at the asylum centre had not been armed.
At least 15 asylum seekers mostly of Afghan origin were involved in the fight, according to the Expressen newspaper.
“We believe that most of those involved are in their 20s,” police spokesperson Christer Nordström told the newspaper.
“But several of them left the area before we got to there, so now we are now working to establish the identity of everyone involved and establish who did what.”
Between 20 and 25 police officers were called to the centre on Saturday evening. Three of the suspects had locked themselves in their rooms.
Last month, Alexandra Mezher, 22, was stabbed to death at a refugee shelter for unaccompanied children in Sweden.
Following her death, hundreds of masked men marched through Stockholm's main train station, reportedly beating up refugees and anyone who didn't appear to be ethnically Swedish.
Police said men, who handed out leaflets referring to Ms Mezher's death, had "gathered with the purpose of attacking refugee children".
Around 163,000 asylum applications were made in Sweden last year. It has become one of the main destinations for refugees and migrants entering the EU.
Swedish Migration Agency data shows the number of threats and violent incidents at refugee shelters have been rising with the number of arrivals.
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