STOCKHOLM: One man died after an explosion outside an underground station in Stockholm on Sunday, police said, adding they did not believe the incident was terrorism-related.

The man sustained fatal injuries after he picked up an object, a police spokesman said. Daily newspaper Aftonbladet said it was thought to have been a hand grenade.

Police declined to confirm that report, for which the newspaper named no sources.

“There is obviously something that has exploded strongly...But we will have to wait for the technical investigation,” the police spokesman Sven-Erik Olsson said, adding that a murder investigation had been launched.

“It is too early to say. Technicians are still working on it. Nothing indicates that the (injured) couple were targeted,” said Olsson, adding there was nothing to suggest an act of terrorism.

There was no reason to believe the event was linked to terrorism, he said.

“The victim according to witesses picked up an object off the ground which promptly exploded,” Olsson said.

He died in hospital, police said on their website.

A second person was injured in the explosion, which occured at the Varby Gard station in the south of the city. It and an adjacent square were closed while police carried out checks.

The blast occurred mid-morning at the Varby gard station in Huddinge, a southern suburb of the Swedish capital.

Police cordoned off the station and the square where the blast happened as the bomb squad moved in to investigate.

Agencies