Norway’s death toll in the horrific Oslo bombing and Utoya camp shooting last Friday has been lowered to 76 after initial estimates placed it as high as 93. Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, 32, has been arrested for the attacks that killed eight people in Oslo and 68 in Utoya.
The Associated Press reported that Oystein Maeland, a police spokesperson in Oslo, said, “It could be that some were counted twice.” Behring Breivik is accused of shooting youths attending a Labor Party camp on the island of Utoya. He reportedly beckoned the youths to come closer before opening fire on them. Some attempted to flee by climbing trees, hiding behind rocks or swimming away from the island. According to the Associated Press, Maeland went on to discuss the discrepancy in original estimates with today’s death toll figure, saying, “But it was necessary to get that information out there (fast) because it was sky-high compared with the number that media had been given.” The first reports out of Norway estimated 10 deaths from the shooting.
He went on to say, “We saw that people that had survived started posting on the Internet how many dead bodies they had seen and it was important for us to go public with this. Afterward we realize it was necessary to make a downgrade.” That said, as law enforcement continues their investigation and their search of the island and surrounding waters, it is possible that the death toll could change again.
Behring Brevik is accused of the bombing of government buildings last Friday in Oslo and the shooting rampage on the island. While according to Reuters, Behring Brevik has claimed connection with other cells, the news agency reported that source close to the investigation said, “We feel that the accused has fairly low credibility when it comes to this claim but none of us dare to be completely dismissive about it either."
