Car explodes at Swedish roundabout killing 1

A car exploded at a roundabout outside the Swedish city of Gothenburg on Friday killing at least one person and seriously injuring several others, according to police.

Police said that four or five people were in the car, with media reports saying a child was among the passengers with life-threatening injuries. The cause of the explosion was unclear.

"At least one person has died. We know that there was some form of explosion in the car," local police spokeswoman Camilla Fogelhamre told AFP.

"There was just one car involved... We don't know the cause of the explosion," she added.

Emergency services described the car as "practically demolished".

An eyewitness driving on the roundabout at the time of the explosion told public broadcaster SVT that pieces of the vehicle shot into the air shortly after 1500 GMT.

"When I came up to the car I saw that it must have been a bomb. It was completely torn apart, the front part of the engine and everything was gone," said Janne Wolltin, who said another driver from the roundabout had began dousing the flames when he arrived.

The area was still cordoned off late on Friday and a police forensic team was examining the scene of the explosion.

Police have opened an investigation into suspected explosives or flammable goods offences but no arrests have been made nor any suspects identified.