Norway to hold day of mourning on August 21

Norway will hold a day of mourning on August 21 to remember the victims of the country’s worst attacks since World War Two.

Funerals have begun for the 77 people who died in the Oslo bombing and shooting last week, carried out by self-confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik.

Survivors say they are trying to come to terms with the horrific scenes they witnessed on July 22.

“I try not to focus on the image of my friend lying dead on the ground. I prefer to remember happy times,” said Karolina Bank, a student who attended the Labour Party summer camp on Utoeya Island.

“I remember the names we used to call each other, how we used to laugh. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for those who cannot share these things with me anymore.”

MPs and the Norwegian royal family held a ceremony in parliament earlier on Monday, where Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg announced the official remembrance day.

The ceremonies for the dead come as Norwegian Muslims mark the start of Ramadan.

Breivik, a right-wing extremist, said he wanted to change Norway’s multicultural policies, blaming the Labour Party for encouraging Muslim immigration.

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