Bridge collapse injures 27 in Finland

FINLAND: Twenty-seven people, most of them teenage schoolchildren, were injured on Thursday when a temporary pedestrian bridge collapsed in the Finnish city of Espoo, just outside the capital Helsinki, rescue services said.

The injuries were not life threatening, they added.

The children were part of a group of 14 and 15 year olds returning from a field trip together with their teachers when the temporary pedestrian bridge collapsed, a Helsinki hospital district phycician told a press conference.

“They mainly have limb injuries,” chief physician Eero Hirvensalo said. The accident left 26 children and one adult injured with 24 of them needing hospital care, authorities said.

Police said the temporary bridge had been built from plywood while construction was ongoing in the area. Finnish media published pictures of at least five people lying on the ground while being attended to by rescue workers. – NDTV

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