Vilks worked as an artist for almost four decades and rose to fame after producing several controversial works [File: Reuters]
Lars Vilks, the Swedish artist who caused worldwide controversy in 2007 with drawings depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body, was killed in a car accident.
The 75-year-old died Sunday in an accident near the southern city of Markaryd, Swedish police said in a statement.
Vilks, who has lived under police protection since the drawings were published, was traveling in a police car that collided with a truck.
The car, which had left Stockholm and headed south, was driving in the direction of the truck and both vehicles burst into flames. Two police officers were also killed.
The truck driver was flown to hospital with serious injuries. Police said they did not know why the car went into the wrong lane, but are investigating whether a tire had exploded.
The car that Vilks was transporting had tire-resistant tires, police said. However, exploding tire debris was found on the road.
“This is a very tragic incident. It is now important for all of us that we do everything we can to investigate what happened and what caused the collision,” the police statement said.
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