Sweden initiates 'drone hunt' as more objects spotted over nuclear plants & other areas

More drones have been sighted over the Forsmark nuclear power plant and other sensitive areas in Sweden after the country witnessed a massive drone scare last week, Sputnik reported. On Monday afternoon (January 17), the alarms were set off after passers-by alerted authorities of "flying objects" above the nuclear plant. "Police officers on the ground observed this and confirmed that it was, indeed, a drone. We are coordinating an ongoing operational effort with the police aviation and Forsmark's own security organisation," Jonas Eronen, a police spokesperson, told national broadcaster SVT.

He further stated that the search was aided by a helicopter, but no suspects were apprehended. As per the report, several drones have been sighted in and around Stockholm, including an "advanced drone" seen at the royal family's Drottningholm Castle. The police along with Coast Guard are investigating the matter in the region including the possibility that drones could have come from the sea. The preliminary investigation into the incident has been taken over by Sweden's domestic security service, the report stated. 

Drones spotted over three nuclear plants in the country

Initially, police claimed that drones were spotted above two nuclear power plants - Forsmark and Oskarshamn. However, a drone was also sighted over a third nuclear power facility - Ringhals - which is the country's largest and is located on the western coast, according to the intelligence service, as known as SAPO. "With regard to the cases of drone overflights at three nuclear power plants, the assessment is made that they are of such a nature that preliminary investigations have been taken over from the police authority in order to be able to investigate the incidents in more detail,” SAPO said in a statement as per the Associated Press (AP).

'Sweden is not adequately prepared for such an occurrence'

It is pertinent to mention here that the authorities were first alerted about the drones on Friday (January 14) but they could not locate them. According to Swedish media, the unmanned aircraft were large enough to resist the wind that was blowing over the area. Meanwhile, Professor Hans Liwang of the Swedish National Defense College claimed that the country is not adequately prepared for such an occurrence. "We have not really adapted our way of looking at this type of event to today’s reality. We still think of the world as either at peace or at war," he told SVT as per the AP. 

(With inputs from AP)

Image: Unsplash/AP