Police on Friday opened an investigation after a suspicious odor at the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) office left eight people needing hospital treatment with respiratory symptoms.
Images from the scene showed police wearing gas masks alongside several ambulances and emergency vehicles as an area around the office of the agency was closed off.
“Around 1:00pm today, there were indications that there was a dangerous substance at SAPO’s offices,” said Patrik Soderberg, chief physician at the local healthcare authority Region Stockholm.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“A total of eight people with symptoms have been treated at hospital,” Region Stockholm said in a statement, adding that the “cause of the leak was still unclear.”
After ending their emergency operation, police said they had started an investigation into “causing bodily harm,” but did not have any suspects.
Police said an area of “a couple of hundred meters” around the building had been closed off after “a potential gas leak.”
Some of those taken to hospital were officers who had “smelled an odor when they arrived,” the service added in a statement.
SAPO spokeswoman Karin Lutz said that the intelligence agency had called emergency services after receiving an alarm.
The building had been “partly evacuated” during the emergency, but declined to give further details or comment on whether they suspected foul play, Lutz said.
In a later statement, SAPO said that “emergency services ended the operation after confirming that there was no gas inside the premises or outside the building.”
The Nordic country is on high alert as it is expecting to clear the final hurdle to its bid to join NATO tomorrow, with the last holdout Hungary scheduled to vote on ratifying its membership.
The daily Aftonbladet said that witnesses had reported smelling something that reminded them of paint, and that locals had been told to close their windows.
Swedish media also reported that a gas sensor on the roof of the building had registered the presence of phosgene, but these reports have not been confirmed.
The gas was used as a chemical warfare agent during World War I, but is also widely used in industry for the production of plastics and pesticide.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion
UNDER INVESTIGATION: Members of the local Muslim community had raised concerns with the police about the boy, who officials said might have been radicalized online A 16-year-old boy armed with a knife was shot dead by police after he stabbed a man in the Australian west coast city of Perth, officials said yesterday. The incident occurred in the parking lot of a hardware store in suburban Willetton on Saturday night. The teen attacked the man and then rushed at police officers before he was shot, Western Australian Premier Roger Cook told reporters. “There are indications he had been radicalized online,” Cook told a news conference, adding that it appeared he acted alone. A man in his 30s was found at the scene with a stab wound to his back.
INFLUENCE: The French president last year appealed to Xi Jinping to ‘bring Russia to its senses,’ but the call was not followed by any apparent change in stance French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was to press Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to use his influence to move Russia toward ending the war in Ukraine during a two-day state visit to France. The leaders were also expected to discuss trade disputes over electric vehicles, cognac and cosmetics. Macron’s office said talks about diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine and put pressure on Russia are a top priority for France. Discussions would also include the Middle East, trade issues and global challenges including climate change. The European Commission president was to join part of the meetings to raise broader EU concerns. France is