British schoolboy killed in Sweden apartment blast linked to gang violence

A Birmingham schoolboy killed in a grenade blast at an apartment in Sweden had just celebrated his eighth birthday, his grieving father has said.

Yuusuf Warsame had marked the occasion two days after flying out with his brothers, sisters, and mother to visit relatives in the city of Gothenburg.

He was sleeping in the living room of the flat when a hand grenade was thrown inside, detonating at about 3am on Monday.

His heartbroken father, Abdiwahid Warsame, said Yuusuf’s mother had cradled the boy in her arms as he died.

The boy, who was a pupil at Nelson Mandela Primary School in Sparkhill, Birmingham, was asleep in the same room as his nine-year-old sister Aisha and little brother Ahmed, five.

Both were left in shock but escaped with just “a few little scratches”.

Father of seven Mr Warsame said it was a “miracle” they had not all been killed.

He said: “When I heard the news I had to sit, I could no longer stand up. My wife’s heart is broken.

An eight-year-old Somalian boy, Yusuf Warsame was killed in #Sweden after a hand grenade was thrown into his bedroom pic.twitter.com/hamAl06QBa

— Somalia Live Update (@HassanIstiila) August 23, 2016

“She told me that he died in front of her. She was covered in his blood.

“She tried to help, she went and took him by his chest and held him, but he was dead. She cannot do anything at the moment.”

He added that Aisha was also asking for her little brother.

Mr Warsame, who spoke to his family on the phone on Monday afternoon, said: “Both of the younger children are struggling, especially Aisha.

“She knows he’s dead. She said to me ‘when are you coming, because I need Yuusuf’.”

His other two young sons, Ibrahim, 14, and Abdiraham, 16, were sleeping in another room at the time of the explosion.

The violence was linked by Swedish media to a gangland feud, with police being quoted as saying a man convicted of a fatal shooting last year was registered at the address.

Mr Warsame, who is a Dutch national, has said he is desperate to fly out and join his family in Sweden but has been told by the authorities for the Netherlands they need a copy of the boy’s death certificate before they can issue him with travel documents.

Shop owner Mr Warsame said: “I don’t have the death certificate because when I spoke to the hospital in Sweden they said it’s too early for them to issue it.

“I need an ID card but the Dutch embassy here are saying they need the death certificate. The only thing I want at the moment is to go to my family.”