At Least 80 Youth Shot Dead in Norway Massacre

Thirteen newspapers in China's 11 provinces published a joint editorial on March 1 urging the speeding up of the household registration reform. (Internet screenshot)

Eighty young people are confirmed dead in the shooting massacre on Norway’s Utoya Island that closely followed a deadly bomb attack on government headquarters in downtown Oslo on Friday. Seven people were killed in the blast that sent the downtown core into chaos.

At a press conference held at 3:30 a.m. local time, police chief Oystein Maeland confirmed the deaths and said he cannot guarantee that the death count will not rise.

“This is a situation that affects us all. This is a case of catastrophic consequence,” said Maeland, according to Norwegian national broadcaster NRK TV.

The youth were attending a summer camp for the youth wing of the ruling Labor Party. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was scheduled to visit the camp on Saturday.

A 32-year-old Norwegian man identified as Anders Behring Breivik was arrested after the shooting and he is suspected of being responsible for both attacks.

Breivik arrived on the island wearing a police uniform and called over a group of campers—then opened fire on them. Some of the youth tried to swim off the island to escape. Locals were notified of the shooting and anyone with a boat was urged to help rescue the swimmers. NRK captured photos of dead bodies at the seashore.

Lise Berit Aronsen and Ole Haugen, who were vacating nearby the island, drove their boat on a search for survivors. They heard the call of four swimmers, two girls and two boys, and saved them. “They were running out of energy,” Aronsen told Norwegian newspaper VG.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg vowed to “find the guilty ones.”

“We will not allow them to break us, and break our democracy. We are a small but proud nation,” Stoltenberg told Aftenposten newspaper. Leaders of other nations, including President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have condemned the attacks.

The perpetrator’s motive is unclear, but Norwegian media revealed that he is connected to a group of extremists in the eastern part of the country. He regularly left comments on Norwegian political web forum Document.no.

In the most recent update on his Twitter account, Breivik wrote “One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests.”

NRK reported that Breivik has two guns registered under his name, and owns his own company that buys and sells groceries.

“This is the biggest test for us after the world wars,” said Kari Henriksen, a top Labor Party politician.

All major Norwegian media used at least double-sized headlines for their major reports related to the attacks online.