Oslo: Norwegian police searched for more victims on Saturday after a suspected right-wing zealot killed at least 92 people in a shooting spree and bomb attack that have traumatized a once-placid country.
The 32-year-old Norwegian named Anders Behring Breivik was arrested after Friday's massacre of young people on a tiny forested holiday island that was hosting the annual summer camp for the youth wing of Norway's ruling Labour party.
Breivik was also charged with the bombing of Oslo's government district that killed seven people hours earlier.
Witnesses said the gunman, wearing a police uniform, went on a prolonged shooting orgy on Utoeya island northwest of Oslo, picking off his prey unchallenged as youngsters scattered in panic or jumped in the lake to swim for the mainland.
"I just saw people jumping into the water, about 50 people swimming toward the shore. People were crying, shaking, they were terrified," said Anita Lien, 42, who lives by Tyrifjord lake, a few hundred meters (yards) from Utoeya.
"They were so young, between 14 and 19 years old."
Police put the death toll at 85, but did not say how many people had been wounded in the shooting.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, capturing the shock this normally quiet nation of 4.8 million is experiencing, said: "A paradise island has been transformed into a hell."
Deputy Police Chief Roger Andresen would not speculate on the motives for what was believed to be the deadliest attack by a lone gunman anywhere in modern times.
Search for survivors
Police combed the island and the lake, even using a mini-submarine to search the water, police inspector Bjoerne Erik Sem-Jacobsen told Reuters. "We don't know how many people were on the island, therefore we have to search further."
They were also checking media reports that some witnesses believed Breivik had an accomplice. "There are no concrete reports of a second gunman, although we're not excluding any possibilities," said Oslo police spokeswoman Trine Dyngeland.
The suspect, tall and blond, owned an organic farming company called Breivik Geofarm, which a supply firm said he had used to buy fertilizer -- possibly to make the Oslo bomb.
"These are goods that were delivered on May 4," Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman at farm supply chain Felleskjoepet Agri, told Reuters. "It was 6 tonnes of fertilizer, which is a small, normal order for a standard agricultural producer."
It was not clear if Breivik, a gun club member according to local media, had more than one weapon or whether he had stocked ammunition on Utoeya, where police found explosives.
Initial speculation after the Oslo blast had focused on Islamist militant groups, but it appears that only Breivik - and perhaps unidentified associates - was involved.
Officials pointed to Breivik's far-right views.
"I think it's appropriate to underline that politically motivated violence that Norway has seen in the modern age has come from the extreme rightist side," Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said.
Home-grown anti-government militants have struck elsewhere in the past, notably in the United States, where Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people with a truck bomb in Oklahoma City in 1995.
Facebook page
Breivik's Facebook page was blocked, but a cached version describes a conservative Christian from Oslo.
The profile veers between references to lofty political philosophers and gory popular films, television shows and video games. The Facebook account appears to have been set up on July 17. The site lists no "friends" or social connections.
The profile lists interests including hunting, political and stock analysis, with tastes in music ranging from classical to trance, a hypnotic form of dance music.
Breivik had also set up a Twitter account recently, with a single post on July 17, a citation from 19th century thinker John Stuart Mill: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."
The Norwegian daily Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying Breivik became a right-wing extremist in his late 20s. It said he expressed strong nationalistic views in online debates and had been a strong opponent of multi-culturalism.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and many world leaders, condemned the Norway attacks. "This tragedy strikes right at the heart of the soul of a peaceful people," she said.
Survivors described scenes of terror as the gunman stalked his victims, many of whom were confused by his police uniform.
"It was total chaos...I think several lost their lives as they tried to get over to the mainland," said Jorgen Benone.
"I saw people being shot. I tried to sit as quietly as possible. I was hiding behind some stones. I saw him once, just 20, 30 meters away from me. I thought 'I'm terrified for my life', I thought of all the people I love.
"I saw some boats but I wasn't sure if I could trust them. I didn't know who I could trust any more."
Hana, 16, told Norway's Aftenposten those on the youth camp had met in the main house to talk about the Oslo bombing.
"Suddenly we heard shots. First we thought it was nonsense. Then everyone started running," she said.
"I saw a policeman stand there with earplugs. He said 'I'd like to gather everyone'. Then he ran in and started shooting at people. We ran down toward the beach and began to swim."
Hana said the gunman fired at people in the water. Others hid in buildings or fled to the woods.
Survivors taken to hotel
Stoltenberg flew by helicopter to a hotel in the nearby town of Sundvollen where many survivors were taken for counseling and police interviews. Relatives converged on the hotel to reunite with their loved ones or to identify their dead.
"A whole world is thinking of them," the prime minister said, his voice cracking with emotion.
Norwegian King Harald, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon also visited the hotel to comfort survivors and their families.
About 10 policemen guarded Breivik's registered address in a four-storey red brick building in west Oslo.
Oslo was quiet but tense after Friday's mid-afternoon bombing which broke the windows of the prime minister's building and damaged the finance and oil ministry buildings.
The district attacked is the heart of power in Norway. But security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka.
"Nothing explains this level of violence," said former US intelligence officer Richard Ayers, who is based in London.
"If you make the assumption that this man's right-wing views were precipitated by the significant increase in Muslim migration into Norway...over the last several years, then one could logically see why he would want to strike back at the government for allowing that.
"And that's what he did, he struck at the government."
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