<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Terrified revellers at a gay bar in Oslo hid in a basement and desperately called loved ones as a gunman went on the rampage, killing two people and injuring more than 20 on the day the city was due to celebrate its annual Pride parade.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The attack took place in the early hours of Saturday, with victims shot inside and outside the London Pub, a longstanding hub of Oslo's LGBTQ scene, as well as in the surrounding streets and at one other bar in the centre of the Norwegian capital.</div><div><br></div><div>Bili Blum-Jansen, who was in the London Pub, said he fled to the basement to escape the hail of bullets and hid there along with 80 to 100 other people.</div><div><br></div><div>"Many called their partners and family, it felt almost as if they were saying goodbye. Others helped calm down those who were extremely terrified," he told TV2.</div><div><br></div><div>"I had a bit of panic and thought that if the shooter or shooters were to arrive, we'd all be dead. There was no way out."</div><div><br></div><div>A suspect, a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, was detained minutes after embarking on the shooting spree, according to police who said they believed he acted alone. Two weapons, including a fully automatic gun, were retrieved from the crime scene, they added.</div><div><br></div><div>"There is reason to think that this may be a hate crime," police said. "We are investigating whether the Pride was a target in itself or whether there are other motives."</div><div><br></div><div>Other witnesses described the chaos that erupted inside and outside the London Bar, which has been open since 1979.</div><div><br></div><div>"Many people were crying and screaming, the injured were screaming, people were distressed and scared - very, very scared," said Marcus Nybakken, 46, who had left the bar shortly before the shooting and returned later to help.</div><div><br></div><div>"My first thought was that Pride was the target, so that's frightening."</div><div><br></div><div>Journalist Olav Roenneberg of public broadcaster NRK said he was in the area at the time and saw a man arrive with a bag, take out a gun and start to shoot: "Then I saw windows breaking and understood that I had to take cover."</div><div><br></div><div>Authorities said that the attack was also being investigated as a possible act of terrorism. It was not clear exactly where the two people were killed in the area of the London Bar. - Reuters&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>