Norway reopens island of Utoya for first time since massacre

Journalists took the same ferry as Anders Breivik to the island. Photo: PA

The island of Utoya in Norway, where 69 people were murdered in a massacre by Anders Behring Breivik, has been reopened to the public since the killings in July.

Over 150 journalists took the ferry trip to the island on the M/S Thorbjorn, the same boat that carried Breivik on the day of his bloody rampage.

Labor Party officials have vowed the island will once again return to being an idyllic retreat, and announced that holiday camps would resume, with more than £3.5 million being invested to renovate it.

PA

Closed since the killing spree on 22 July, the island, owned by the ruling Labor Party, was a popular recreational centre for its youth wing's summer holidays.

Now donors have vowed to invest their millions to restore it, renovating its camping grounds, football pitches, and basketball courts.

Leader of the Labor Party's youth organisation, Eskil Pedersen, said the aim will be to continue with the youth camps, and that the island will also be open to the public in time.

One of the buildins where youths lost their lives. Photo: PA

According to the Daily Mail, Pedersen said: 'The island means very much to very many people. No island in Norway has formed the political landscape more than Utoya.

'We have the clear aim to return to Utoya.'

Breivik has confessed to the attacks, but denies criminal guilt, saying that he's in a 'state of war', and the massacre was necessary to prevent Norway and Europe from being taken over by Muslims.

He surrendered to police on the island after his 80-minute attack, and has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest.