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Birmingham boy 'killed in grenade explosion' in Swedish apartment Birmingham boy 'killed in grenade explosion' in Swedish apartment
(about 2 hours later)
An eight-year-old schoolboy from Birmingham was killed after a grenade exploded in an apartment where he was sleeping in Sweden, police have confirmed. An eight-year-old schoolboy from Birmingham has been killed after a grenade was thrown into an apartment where he was sleeping in Sweden.
The boy was visiting family in Gothenburg when the blast hit their third-floor apartment early on Monday, Swedish police said. He died of his injuries on the way to hospital. Yuusuf Warsame was visiting family in Gothenburg when the explosive was thrown by an unidentified attacker through a window of the third-floor apartment early on Monday. He died from his injuries in his mother’s arms on the way to hospital. The attack has been linked to a gangland feud.
The youngster was named in reports as Yuusuf Warsame, a pupil at Nelson Mandela primary school in Sparkbrook, Birmingham. A family member told the Birmingham Mail that two of his siblings and his mother were also caught up in the attack, which was being linked in Sweden to a gangland feud. Yuusuf, a pupil at Nelson Mandela primary school in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, was on holiday with his mother and siblings, and had celebrated his birthday on 15 August.
Police said in a statement that a boy was sleeping in the living room of an apartment in the working-class neighbourhood of Biskopsgården in Gothenburg, on Sweden’s west coast, when an unidentified attacker threw a hand grenade through the window. At least five children and several adults were in the apartment at the time. Emergency services were called to the block of flats in the Biskopsgården neighbourhood at about 3am. Police said Yuusuf was sleeping in the living room of the apartment at the time of the attack, which Thomas Fuxborg, a spokesman for Gothenburg police, described as abhorrent and despicable.
Yuusuf’s father, Abdiwahid Warsame, was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that his son had been on holiday with his mother and two brothers. Yuusuf’s father, Abdiwahid Warsame, told the Birmingham Mail that the boy’s nine-year-old sister, Aisha, and five-year-old brother, Ahmed, were asleep in the same room but escaped with just “a few little scratches”. At least five children and several adults were in the apartment at the time and the father of seven said it was a miracle that they had not all been killed.
“He was a lovely boy, a beautiful child,” he said. “He was so well liked at school and really worked on his education. He wanted to do well in life and not make bad decisions. “He was a lovely boy, a beautiful child,” he said. “He was so well liked at school and really worked on his education. He wanted to do well in life and not make bad decisions. He was just a normal boy with his education ahead of him.”
“He was just a normal boy with his education ahead of him.” Warsame, a Dutch national, told the newspaper that authorities in the Netherlands needed a copy of Yuusuf’s death certificate before they could issue travel documents permitting him to join his wife in Sweden.
Swedish media linked the violence to a gangland feud and quoted police as saying a man convicted of a fatal shooting last year was registered at the address. In March 2015, armed men burst into a pub in Biskopsgården, gunning down an innocent bystander and a man known to police. Eight people were convicted earlier this month for the attack, which took place in the context of an ongoing feud between members of Gothenburg’s Somali community, and handed sentences ranging from seven years to life in prison. Warsame has been in the UK, where Yuusuf was born, since 2001, and owns a halal butcher and grocery story in the Small Heath area of Birmingham.
While Sweden is generally a peaceful, safe country with low crime rates, police have had difficulty addressing violence in poorer neighbourhoods in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. In recent years, there have been grenade attacks, shootings and incidents of car arson. Swedish media linked the violence to a gangland feud and quoted police as saying a man convicted of a fatal shooting last year was registered at the address. In March 2015, armed men burst into a pub in Biskopsgården, killing an innocent bystander and a man known to police.
Incidents have included the killing in March last year of two men and the wounding of more than 10 people by gunmen who opened fire in a pub in a suspected gang-related attack. Earlier this month, eight people were convicted of the attack, which took place in the context of a continuing conflict between members of Gothenburg’s Somali community, and given prison sentences ranging from seven years to life.
The issue has been one of the main topics of Sweden’s political debate this summer, as cars have been set alight in the neighbourhoods on an almost nightly basis. The centre-right opposition has called for 2,000 more police officers to be hired, while the leftwing government has proposed a series of crime prevention measures. While Sweden is generally peaceful and safe, with low crime rates, police have had difficulty addressing violence in poorer neighbourhoods in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. In recent years, there have been grenade attacks, shootings and incidents of cars being set on fire.
The prevalence of arson has been a key subject of political debate over the summer, with cars being set alight on an almost nightly basis. The centre-right opposition Alliance has called for the hiring of an additional 2,000 police officers, while the leftwing government has proposed a series of crime prevention measures.