SWEDISH cartoonist Lars Vilks, who lived under police protection after his 2007 depiction of Prophet Muhammad prompted death threats, died in a car crash yesterday.

The 75-year-old and two police officers were killed in a collision with an oncoming truck, confirmed Swedish police.

“This is being investigated like any other road accident. Because two policemen were involved, an investigation has been assigned to a special section of the prosecutor’s office,” a police spokesman told AFP, adding that there is no suspicion of foul play.

The accident occurred near small town Markaryd, when the car Vilks was travelling in crashed into an oncoming truck. Both vehicles caught fire and the truck driver is hospitalised, according to police.

Police in a statement said the cause of the accident is unclear.

“The person we were protecting and two colleagues died in this inconceivable and terribly sad tragedy,” said regional police head Carina Persson.

Vilks had been under police protection since his 2007 cartoon of Muhammad with a dog’s body prompted outrage among those who consider depictions of the Muslim prophet deeply offensive or blasphemous.

Al-Qaeda offered a US$100,000 (RM417,000) reward for Vilks’ murder.

The depiction also sparked diplomatic friction, with Sweden’s then prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt meeting ambassadors from several Muslim countries to ease tensions.

In 2015, Vilks survived a gun attack at a free-speech conference in Copenhagen that left a Danish film director dead. – AFP, October 4, 2021.