At least 87 dead in Norway attacks

“It’s taken time to search the area. What we know now is that we can say that there are at least 80 killed at Utoya,’’ Maeland said. “It goes without saying that this gives dimensions to this incident that are exceptional.’’

Maeland said the death toll could rise. He said others were severely injured, but police did not know how many were hurt.

A suspect in the shootings and the Oslo explosion was arrested. Though police did not release his name, Norwegian national broadcaster NRK identified him as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik and said police searched his Oslo apartment overnight. NRK and other Norwegian media posted pictures of the blond, blue-eyed Norwegian.

A police official said the suspect appears to have acted alone in both attacks, and that “it seems like that this is not linked to any international terrorist organizations at all.’’ The official spoke on condition of anonymity because that information had not been officially released by Norway’s police.

Police said the suspect is a right-winger with anti-Muslim views, but they did not know whether that was a factor in the attacks.

National police chief Sveinung Sponheim told NRK that the suspect’s Internet postings “suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views, but if that was a motivation for the actual act remains to be seen.’’

Though the motive was unclear, both attacks were in areas connected to the ruling Labor Party government. The youth camp, about 20 miles northwest of Oslo, is organized by the party’s youth wing, and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg had been scheduled to speak there today.

A 15-year-old camper named Elise said she heard gunshots, but then saw a police officer and thought she was safe. Then he started shooting people right before her eyes.