Story highlights
NEW: One of those arrested was injured, according to police
Those killed were a 55-year-old woman and her 28-year-old son
Sweden is seen as welcoming toward asylum-seekers
One day after two people were stabbed to death inside a Swedish IKEA, police in that Scandinavian country arrested two men in connection with the crime – both of them asylyum-seekers from Eritrea.
Swedish police said both men lived in a facility for asylum-seekers in a Swedish town called Arboga, which is about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of where the fatal stabbings took place in Vasteras.
The victims were a 55-year-old woman and her 28-year-old son, according to police.
A third person – who police spokesman Per Agren said was one of the two men arrested – was severely injured.
Sweden: nearly 40,000 asylum decisions last year
With its high per-capita income, Sweden is a popular destination for asylum-seekers. It helps, too, that it is a relatively welcoming one.
According to Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Union, in 2014 Sweden made initial decisions on nearly 40,000 asylum applications – the third-highest number of any country in the EU.
More than three-quarters of those decisions were approvals, Eurostat reported.
The stabbings took place Monday in Vasteras, which is about 65 miles northwest of the capital, Stockholm.
