Tuesday 26 July 2011

Norway police want UK crime technician aid

Reporting from Oslo — Norwegians have always taken pride in their open, trusting society.

It's a country where you might encounter the prime minister at the grocery store and offer a hug. Many police don't carry guns and most government buildings are unprotected. Homicide is rare, with only a handful of gun-related deaths a year.

But as Otto Lovik stood Sunday on a muddy lakeshore overlooking Utoya Island and recalled how he rescued about 60 people fleeing Friday's massacre by a gunman, the 56-year-old prison guard, still shaking from the experience, said his country must change.

Norwegian police said Sunday that a British police expert was aiding a probe of attacks that killed at least 93 people as part of cooperation with foreign forces.

"We have received help from the Metropolitan police in London by a criminal technician expert," acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim told a news conference. He said that Norwegian police were also sending out information via Interpol.

Sponheim also said that a police officer had been due to be on the island where the gunman massacred at least 86 people. It took about an hour for police to arrive.

"There was supposed to be a police officer there," he said, adding that it was unclear where he was.

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