Sweden’s prime minister offered his sympathy, and the Home Affairs minister said the government is aiding in the investigation after an explosion and a fire at a Goteborg apartment building early Tuesday left at least 20 people injured.  

Emergency officials say they were alerted to the blast just before 5 a.m. local time in the Annedal district in central Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city. Fires spread to several units of the building, and emergency responders had to rescue several people. At least 16 people were taken to the hospital. Fire crews battled the blaze for several hours.

At a news conference in Stockholm, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Home Affairs Minister Mikael Damberg discussed the incident with reporters. Lofven said he expressed the government’s sympathy for all those affected, saying an incident like this hits hard on “our whole society.”

Damberg said the explosion was not caused by “anything natural” but that investigators are exploring several hypotheses.

“The incident may be an accident, but it may also be an attempted attack on one or more people who were inside the building.” Police spokesperson Thomas Fuxborg echoed similar sentiments.

Damberg said police have, so far, been questioning witnesses, knocking on doors, and gathering surveillance videos from the area. He said the formal, technical investigation will start as soon as possible.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
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