Crude bomb kills Norwegian teenager

A Norwegian teenager was killed when a crude bomb built with instructions from the Internet accidentally blew up in an Oslo flat, police said yesterday.

They said there was no sign of a link to terrorism and suspected the motive may have been to blow up ticket machines to get at cash inside.

The blast shortly before midnight on Wednesday killed the 17-year-old, seriously injured his 19-year old brother and badly damaged the apartment. The brothers were of Syrian origin.

"It looks most like (the dead youth) had made the explosives to blow up ticket machines on the Oslo transport system," said Terje Kristiansen, assistant chief of Oslo police. He called the blast a tragic accident.

Ticket machines at unguarded railway and tram stations on the outskirts of the Norwegian capital can contain hundreds of dollars in coins and notes. One was blown up a few days ago, Mr Kristiansen said.

Police said similar types of explosives had been used in attacks on ticket machines in the past.

Forensic experts found information about making explosives downloaded from the Internet in the debris in the flat in a three-storey residential block in the east of the capital.

Police charged a 20-year-old Norwegian man of Pakistani origin, who had been in the flat at the time, with taking part in an illegal explosion.