Norwegian police say a gunman shot and killed at least 80 youths at a summer camp in the normally peaceful Nordic nation, hours after a bomb blast killed seven people in the capital, Oslo.
Police Chief Oystein Maeland announced the updated death toll Saturday from the most violent event Norway has witnessed since World War II. Officials initially said the gunman killed 10 people.
The gunman dressed as a police officer and opened fire at a youth camp Friday on an island off Norway's western coast, north of Oslo.
Most of his victims were teenagers.
Norway's justice minister, Knut Storberget, said the man who carried out the attack on the island of Utoya is Norwegian and is now in custody. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the attack "cowardly" and said it will not destroy Norway's democracy.
The Friday bombing that killed seven people targeted government headquarters in Oslo.
There has been no clear claim of responsibility, or a motive, for the attacks. However, Norwegian officials have suggested they are connected.
The building that was bombed in Oslo houses the office of the prime minister, but he was not there at the time and was not harmed.
U.S. President Barack Obama was quick to condemn the attacks and express his condolences for the loss of life. He said the entire international community has a stake in preventing what he called "this kind of terror" from occurring.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added that the United States is ready to support Norway as it seeks to bring those responsible to justice.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, through his spokesman, said he was shocked by the attacks and said the United Nations stands with the people of Norway "at this terrible moment."
The bombing in Oslo shattered hundreds of windows in the 17-story government headquarters building. Windows in buildings as far as 400 meters away also were destroyed. The blast sent people running through the streets in the normally quiet neighborhood, which were littered with debris.(VOA News)
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