Swedish cortoonist Lars Vilks, who stirred worldwide controversy in 2007 with drawings sketching the Prophet Muhammad’s head on a dog’s body, died in a car crash.
Vilks, 75, had been living under police protection since the drawings were published.
The car crash happened when a police vehicle, which he was traveling in, collided with a truck. The accident took place near the town of Markaryd in southern Sweden.
A large fire broke out after the accident and a number of emergency vehicles attended at the scene.
Two police officers also died in the accident.
“This is a very tragic incident. It is now important that we do everything we can to investigate what happened,” Swedish police said.
The police statement said it was still unclear how the collision occurred.
“Initially, there is nothing that points to anyone else being involved.”
“We will deal with it like any other road accident. Because two policemen died, a special section of the prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation,” a police spokesperson told news agency AFP, adding that there was no suspicion of foul play.
The police car was in was travelling at high speed, according to local media reports.
Vilks made headlines around the world after his 2007 cartoon caused outrage, leading then Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to meet ambassadors from 22 Muslim countries in an attempt to defuse the situation.
