An aerial view of Utoya Island, Norway, taken Thursday.
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
OSLO, Norway — At least 80 people were killed in a shooting attack on a youth camp in Norway, police said early Saturday, a devastating elevation of the death toll in twin attacks that included a bomb attack in Oslo.
National police Chief Oystein Maeland said the attack had reached "catastrophic dimensions." Police arrested a 32-year-old Norwegian man at the youth camp on a holiday island and linked him to both assaults but said they did not know the motive.
Norwegian media identified him as Anders Behring Breivik and said authorities searched his home. Police held open the possibility that more than one shooter was involved.
At least seven people were killed Friday when the bomb exploded in the Norwegian capital in mid-afternoon, blowing out the windows of the prime minister's building and damaging the finance and oil ministry building.
A couple of hours later, a gunman opened fire at the youth camp on Utoya island, about 25 miles northwest of Oslo.
The camp on the small, wooded island in Tyrifjord lake was full of youngsters, mostly 14 to 18 years old, attending an event run by the Labor Party.
Death toll could rise Norwegian police reported early Saturday that at least 80 people were killed. "We can't guarantee that won't increase somewhat," Maeland said at a press conference, adding some victims were badly injured.
It was the biggest attack in Western Europe since the 2004 Madrid train bombings killed 191.
Speaking at a press conference Saturday, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said he could not express in words "how much I feel for all those affected."
He said the island, where he had been due to go Friday to speak to the children there, had been "my youth paradise, and now it's been changed to hell," according to a simultaneous translation provided by Sky News.
Stoltenberg said it was the worst violence to affect Norway since World War II.
"It's now about supporting those in the middle of their worst time," he said.
Stoltenberg said "we are not sure" whether just one person was responsible for the attack.
Story: Suspect in deadly Norway attacks named Astrid Randen, a reporter for Norwegian broadcaster NRK, quoted witnesses as saying the gunman — described as "tall, blond and Nordic-looking" and speaking Norwegian — wore a police uniform and summoned youth at the political gathering to gather around him before he "just executed them."
A suspect was arrested on the island, but the circumstances were not clear. Police said a man of similar description had been seen earlier in Oslo before the explosion there.
'No, please, no' Adrian Pracon, on official at the youth camp, gave an terrifying account to BBC News, describing how people were shot dead around him and he only survived by playing dead.
Pracon said when he first began to hear shooting, he thought it must be some kind of drill. Then he saw people he worked with trying to flee the gunman.
"As they were running, they were shot from behind, falling just in front of me," Pracon said.
He and a group of people then ran into the water and started swimming.
"I was the last man hitting the water and therefore I didn't have time to take my shoes and clothes off," Pracon told the BBC. "I had to return because the boots and clothes were pulling me under."
As he returned, the gunman was on the shore and Pracon thought he was about to die. "He saw me returning, he saw I was almost at the shore and pointed the barrel at me. At that time I yelled and cried 'No, please, no.'"
Pracon told the BBC that for some reason the gunman "spared my life."
He said he lay down on the shore among a number of dead bodies and tried to play dead.
"Then there approached 10 people. He started shooting at every single person, they were crying, they were screaming, people were falling over me. These were my friends," Pracon told the BBC. "While I was playing [dead], I had to shield myself with people. By playing dead, I believed I saved my own life."
Pracon said he eventually was shot at close range by the gunman. "I didn't look up to see him, but I could feel the warm air from the barrel. My left ear had an injury because of the blast when I got shot. It felt like someone hit me." "It's now about supporting those in the middle of their worst time," he said.
Stoltenberg said "we are not sure" whether just one person was responsible for the attack.
Story: Suspect in deadly Norway attacks named Astrid Randen, a reporter for Norwegian broadcaster NRK, quoted witnesses as saying the gunman — described as "tall, blond and Nordic-looking" and speaking Norwegian — wore a police uniform and summoned youth at the political gathering to gather around him before he "just executed them."
A suspect was arrested on the island, but the circumstances were not clear. Police said a man of similar description had been seen earlier in Oslo before the explosion there.
'No, please, no' Adrian Pracon, on official at the youth camp, gave an terrifying account to BBC News, describing how people were shot dead around him and he only survived by playing dead.
Pracon said when he first began to hear shooting, he thought it must be some kind of drill. Then he saw people he worked with trying to flee the gunman.
"As they were running, they were shot from behind, falling just in front of me," Pracon said.
He and a group of people then ran into the water and started swimming.
"I was the last man hitting the water and therefore I didn't have time to take my shoes and clothes off," Pracon told the BBC. "I had to return because the boots and clothes were pulling me under."
As he returned, the gunman was on the shore and Pracon thought he was about to die. "He saw me returning, he saw I was almost at the shore and pointed the barrel at me. At that time I yelled and cried 'No, please, no.'"
Pracon told the BBC that for some reason the gunman "spared my life."
He said he lay down on the shore among a number of dead bodies and tried to play dead.
"Then there approached 10 people. He started shooting at every single person, they were crying, they were screaming, people were falling over me. These were my friends," Pracon told the BBC. "While I was playing [dead], I had to shield myself with people. By playing dead, I believed I saved my own life."
He told the BBC that he lay perfectly still and this was probably why the gunman thought he was dead."
Pracon, who was in hospital with what he described as a low-priority wound, said at one point during the killing, a boy aged about 11 ran up to him. "He said his dad was just shot and now the gunman is after him," he said.
Jorgen Benone also described the terrifying ordeal to Sky News. He said he was about to sit down with others to eat when they heard a loud commotion by the water.
"People were wondering, what's happening?... Then people began understanding that people had been shot," he said. "People started jumping out of windows, running everywhere, all directions — they were terrified for their life.
"Most people ran toward the water, hiding behind stones... The guy was dressed like a policeman. It was total chaos, people were jumping into the water trying to swim to the other side."
He told the British media outlet he saw the shooter about 60 feet away and didn't dare make a move. "I thought, I'm terrified for my life," he said. "I thought about all the people I love and I just wanted to go home."
Another survivor, Emilie Bersaas, told Sky News she heard gunshots, fled to nearby building and hid under a bed.
"The shooting came from all different directions," she said. "It was very terrifying. At one point the shooting was very, very close to the building — I think it actually hit the building one time."
The Norwegian news agency NTB quoted witnesses describing a scene of "complete panic."
A witness said in a text message that "we are very afraid," the agency reported. "We do not know what to do. Many people are injured. We are afraid. We are waiting for help. Some are seriously injured. We cannot do anything."
The island is in Tyrifjord lake, about one-third of a mile from the mainland at its closest point, with no bridge. Anita Lien, who lives on the lake near the island, described a terrifying scene.
"I just saw people jumping into the water, about 50 people swimming toward the shore. People were crying, shaking, they were terrified," Lien said.
Slideshow: Bomb blast in central Oslo (on this page) A camp guard, Simen Braenden Mortensen, said that the gunman had tricked his way onto the island by posing as a policeman driving a silver grey car.
"It all looks fine, and a boat is called and it carries him over to Utoya. A few minutes passed, then we heard shots," he said.
Bjorn Jarle Rodberg Larsen, a member of the Hedmark County Council of Labor, told Nettavisen that colleagues on the scene said the man walked in Friday afternoon shortly after the bombing.
Story: Norway attack: Right-wing extremism emerging? "He was in a police uniform and said he was part of the increased security," Larsen said, quoting the eyewitnesses. "A little after he arrived, he took out a gun and began shooting."
Several prominent politicians made appearances at the island event this week. Former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland gave a speech earlier Friday.
At a news conference Friday night, police said the gunman was not connected to the police and "has no relation to us."
People in at least 20 pleasure boats converged on the island to help with the rescue operation. One of them, André Skeie, told NRK that he saw at least a dozen "lifeless bodies" floating in the water.
Skeie said he helped remove more than 15 injured people from the island. Many of them were shot in the stomach, he said.
"It's absolutely awful. It looks like a war zone," Skeie said by phone.
Early Saturday, police and dogs were still searching the island and lake from boats and helicopters, with ambulances on standby. Searchlights slowly swept the water in the dark.
Bombing in Oslo In Oslo, police confirmed at least seven dead in the bomb blast. At least 10 injured people were admitted to Oslo University Hospital, a hospital spokesman told Reuters.
Why would terrorists want to attack Norway?
The blast blew out most windows on the 17-story building housing Stoltenberg's office, as well as nearby ministries including the oil ministry, which caught fire.
"People ran in panic," bystander Kjersti Vedun said. "I counted at least 10 injured people."
Heavy debris littered the streets and a tall plume of brown smoke rose over the city center. The tangled wreckage of a vehicle could be seen near the blast site.
The Reuters correspondent said the streets had been fairly quiet in mid-afternoon on a Friday in high summer, when many Oslo residents take vacation or leave for weekend breaks.
Video: Norway reels after blast, camp attack (on this page) A Twitter user, Christian Aglen, @chaglen, posted what he said was a short video of the aftermath of the blast.
Sulfur in the air Olaf Furniss, a freelance journalist in Oslo, told the BBC that he was in a cafe when the blast went off, but he had not realized how big it was until he went outside. Residents reported the smell of sulfur in the air.
One witness in Oslo, who spoke to the BBC and was identified only as Ella, said, "We are the good guys; stuff like this doesn't happen to us."
However, political violence is virtually unknown in the country.
"There certainly aren't any domestic Norwegian terrorist groups although there have been some al-Qaida-linked arrests from time to time," David Lea, Western Europe analyst at Control Risks, said. "They are in Afghanistan and were involved in Libya, but it's far too soon to draw any conclusions."
An injured man is treated at the scene after an explosion near the government buildings in Norway's capital Oslo Friday.
"Our windows shook, and we could actually feel the shake," she added. "The whole area is evacuated. Sirens everywhere."
Craig Barnes, a British man who was in the center of Oslo when the blast happened, told the Sky News that he had "put my foot down" on the accelerator of the car and got to a friend's house.
"It's absolute chaos, there are many people injured," he told Sky.
"There's debris over at least half a kilometer (546 yards) ... total chaos," Barnes added. "It's absolutely mad."
This article includes reporting from Reuters, msnbc.com staff and NBC News.
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