Myyrmanni bombing
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The Myyrmanni bombing took place on October 11 2002 in the town of Vantaa, Finland, just north of Helsinki, in the local Myyrmanni shopping mall. The bomb killed seven, including a 7-year-old child and the bomber, Petri Gerdt, a 19-year-old chemistry student from Evtek, Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology. 80 people were injured, including 10 children. The shopping center was particularly crowded, with almost 2000 people, including many children who had come to see a clown performance.
The bomb weighed about 2-3 kilograms, with shotgun pellets added to increase lethality. However, the primary structures of the mall remained intact. The motive for the bombing is unknown; it is suspected that the bomb exploded prematurely and by accident. Apparently Gerdt used to explode his home-made bombs in nearby forests, and it is possible that he was just transporting the bomb to be set off somewhere else.
Petri Gerdt's parents have written a book "Petrin matka Myyrmanniin" about this incident.
External links
- Explosion at Myyrmanni (http://radio.weblogs.com/0112083/stories/2002/10/12/explosionAtMyyrmanni.html), Juha Haataja's eyewitness account
- Petrin matka Myyrmanniin (http://www.suomalainen.com/sk/servlets/ProductServlet?action=productInfo&productID=3688994), Suomalainen.com bookstore