Dozens injured, including children, in Finland bridge collapse
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The incident happend Thursday morning when a group of school children were crossing the temporary construction bridge near a shopping centre in the southern town of Tapiola.
Two dozen people, many of them school pupils, were injured when a temporary pedestrian bridge collapsed in the southern Finnish city of Espoo on Thursday.
Police said the bridge crossing a construction site in Espoo’s Tapiola neighbourhood collapsed at 09:30 local time. No one was killed, but 27 people were injured, 10 of them seriously.
Espoo is Finland’s second largest city, and lies a few kilometres west of the capital Helsinki.
“Several people fell a number of metres as the bridge collapsed,” police said in a statement.
Police say they don’t have any more detailed information about the condition of those who were on the “plywood-based bridge”, which was in use as part of a years-long redevelopment of the original 1950s Tapiola town centre.
Rescue services are conducting a technical investigation in the area, where temporary bridges have been in place over the last decade during the extensive construction project. The bridges have plywood sidings, and plywood walkways covered in metal.
Many of the injured were taken to Helsinki University Hospital, where medical director Eero Hirvensalo said there had been 45 people on the bridge when it gave way, but not everybody fell through to the ground, about 5 metres below.
Most of the patients taken to hospital were school students born in 2008, although one member of the school staff was also admitted for treatment.
Doctor Hirvensalo told reporters that most of the injuries are to wrists, ankles and thighs, and some patients are already undergoing surgery.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö tweeted: “Shocking news about an accident in Tapiola. Providing support and help now important.”
Rescue Services will hold a press briefing at 14:00 CET with more information.