1997 Drammen bombing

The attack happened during the final months of the Nordic Biker War, a turf war fought between the Bandidos and Hells Angels for control of criminal rackets in Scandinavia and Finland, in which nine people had been killed prior to the bombing. The Bandidos had moved their headquarters from Oslo to Drammen the previous year.^[1] The bombing was ordered by Torkjell Alsaker, president of the Hells Angels in Norway, and was carried out by members of the Screwdrivers Motorcycle Club, an affiliated gang who were granted full membership to the Hells Angels as a result of the attack.^[2]

Between thirty and fifty kilograms of explosives, made from a mixture of diesel and synthetic fertilizer, and a homemade fuse were placed inside a Volkswagen Transporter 1981 model by John Gerhard Berg, a member of the Screwdrivers Motorcycle Club. Berg later told police during a police interview that he was given the assignment by the Hells Angels president Torkjell Alsaker. The day before the attack, Berg drove the van from Hamar to Drammen along a road where there were no surveillance cameras. On the night on 4 June 1997, Berg dressed in a black wig and other clothes he could dispose of, and drove the van into the entranceway of the Bandidos' Drammen clubhouse located at Konnerudgata 27 before lighting the bomb's fuse. He then used a bicycle that was attached to the van to flee the scene. Kai Mosether served as a getaway driver for Berg and drove him from the city. The explosives detonated at 11:44pm.^[2]

The explosion was more powerful than planned, possibly because too little gravel was used over the explosive.^[3] Shock waves could be felt 500–600 meters away from the explosion site, severely damaging nearby buildings, including the Drammens Is factory. After the initial explosion, the clubhouse re-ignited twice before the entire building collapsed in a major fire.^[4] Three people inside the building survived.^[3] Irene Astrid Bækkevold, a fifty-one-year-old woman from Skjetten who was driving past the scene in her car, was killed in the bombing^[5] and a total of twenty-two people were transported to hospital. Bækkevold's husband, who was a passenger in her vehicle, was among the wounded.^[4] At Drammen Hospital, a full emergency alert was announced and disaster preparedness was established, the first time such measures had been necessary at the hospital.^[1]

As with the shooting of Jan Krogh Jensen north of Mjøndalen in July 1996, police suspect that the intended target of the blast was Hells Angel-turned-Bandido Michael Garcia "Lerche" Olsen. Olsen had been the president of the Copenhagen Hells Angels before being expelled and joining the Bandidos' Helsingborg chapter.^[6] The visiting Olsen and two others fled the burning clubhouse immediately after the explosion.^[7]

Prime Minister of Norway Thorbjørn Jagland and Justice Minister Gerd-Liv Valla attended the scene of the bombing the following day. Jagland vowed to propose legislation banning motorcycle gangs from establishing clubhouses in populated areas.^[5]

Irene Bækkevold became the tenth person and the second innocent bystander to be killed as a result of the biker war. The resulting backlash from the public and increasing scrutiny on motorcycle gangs from law enforcement were among the factors that led to the end of the war, which officially ceased when the Bandidos and Hells Angels reached a truce in September 1997.^[8]