Sweden silence for truck attack victims.

Swedes observed a minute of silence across the country on Monday for the victims of last week's truck attack by a Uzbek man whom police believe was a jihadist sympathiser.

A huge crowd gathered solemnly outside the Ahlens department store at the corner of the Drottninggatan pedestrian street, where a stolen beer truck ploughed down shoppers before slamming into the store's facade, killing four people and injuring 15.

Media reports said the suspect had confessed, claiming he had been ordered by the Islamic State group to carry out the attack against "infidels".

Under grey and rainy skies, the crowd observed a minute of silence at noon (10:00 GMT), many visibly moved with tears streaming down their cheeks as a sea of flowers and candles covered the ground.

"I just want to cry, many died here. For nothing," said Fadi Mdalal, from Syria, who was among those at the scene.

The four dead were two Swedes, one of them an 11-year-old girl, a British man, and a Belgian woman.

Many people thanked and hugged police officers guarding the scene, some offering them flowers, for their widely-praised response to the attack.

At the same time, an official ceremony was held outside Stockholm's City Hall, attended by Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, King Carl XVI Gustaf and most of the royal family, and Stockholm mayor Karin Wanngard.

"We will never give in to violence. We will never let terror prevail," Wanngard said. "Stockholm will remain an open and tolerant city."

To the families of the victims, Lofven said: "You are not alone, we are thinking of you. All of Sweden stands with you."