Bomb scare sparks evacuation in Oslo
2012-07-31 15:04
Oslo - Norwegian authorities on Tuesday evacuated the area around the US embassy in downtown Oslo after a suspicious object was found under a vehicle nearby.
Police cars, ambulances and firetrucks swarmed to the site, which is near the royal palace and popular with tourists, local media said.
"Police will examine a suspicious object under a vehicle close to the American embassy," said Oslo police on their Twitter account, without giving further details.
Police set up a security perimeter at a radius of 500m from the embassy, and metro stations in the area were closed.
"All buildings in this area must be evacuated," a police source said.
The palace was not evacuated but halted entries, a spokesperson said, adding that no royals were currently in residence.
Security was stepped up considerably in Norway after attacks last year by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik that claimed 77 lives.
On 22 July 2011, Breivik set off a car bomb outside government buildings in Oslo, killing eight people, before going to Utoya island, northwest of the capital, where he shot and killed another 69 people, mostly teenagers.
