An armed man stole an ambulance in Oslo on Tuesday, lightly injuring five people including two babies when he drove off and hit a family, Norwegian police and hospital officials have said.
The man was apprehended after police shot at the vehicle, police said, adding the suspect was not critically injured. The investigation was in its early phase, with no information to suggest the incident was related to terrorism, police said.
“Two babies were injured after the hijacked ambulance hit a family. They are twins, seven months old, they are being treated,” Oslo University hospital spokesman Anders Bayer told Reuters.
The injures were light however, police later said.
Public broadcaster NRK showed images of an ambulance driving in the Torshov neighbourhood of Oslo while several gunshots rang out.
The hospital spokesman said the ambulance crew had responded to a routine incident when their vehicle was taken.
“They were called to an ordinary traffic accident where they were met by the armed person,” Mr Bayer said, adding that the hospital had quickly tracked the ambulance via its built-in GPS device.
“Some minutes later one of our other ambulances managed to stop the hijacked vehicle by crashing into it. Then the police came after the crash and got him,” he said.
The ambulance came to a halt just over 1.5km from where it was hijacked.
“An armed man stole an ambulance, drove away and hit some people. We got him now,” the police spokesman told Reuters.
“There is nothing to indicate that this incident is terrorism related,” Oslo police operations leader Erik Hestvik told reporters.
“The investigation is still in an early phase . . . We are conducting a broad, intensive investigation,” the police added in a statement. – Reuters