Police investigating Finland's worstbomb attack in decades have found material for making bombs atthe home of the only suspect, a chemistry student who was amongthe seven killed by the blast.
Mr Jari Liukku, deputy chief of the National Bureau ofInvestigation, said the motive for the devastating explosion onFriday evening, which injured some 80 people and shocked thispeaceful Nordic nation, remained a mystery.
Police said the death toll would have been much higher ifthe bomb had exploded a few minutes earlier, as a performancefor children close to the site of the bomb ended shortly beforethe blast.
The suspect was "an ordinary young man from a middle-classfamily. There was nothing particular about him," Mr Liukku said.Police declined to name the suspect on the ground that theinvestigation was still under way, and Mr Liukku said Finnish lawprevents police from commenting in detail on the mental state ofa suspect.
Police searched the home of the suspect, who lived with hisparents, and said they had found material there that could beused to make a bomb, but declined to give details.
Authorities said the youth, a student at a polytechnic, hadno criminal record and was not believed to have had any strongideological beliefs.
The bomb, containing up to three kg ofexplosives and metal shards, was detonated in the centre of themall near a crowd of children watching a clown. Afive-year-old child died and many of the injured lost limbs.
The fact that a performance for children in the same part ofthe mall ended just before the bomb exploded saved many lives,police said.