Dozens including children injured in Espoo bridge collapse

Dozens of people including 27 children and one teacher were injured when a temporary bridge collapsed at Tapiola in Espoo on Thursday morning.

Police and Espoo city sources said that the accident took place at about 9:30 am when dozens of people including a group of students were crossing over the ply-wooden bridge at Itätuulenkuja area.

At certain stage, the bridge collapsed suddenly, and the people fell down few meters away from the bridge to the ground.

Most of the children were the students of Kalasatama elementary school in Helsinki, who went there on a study tour at the time of accident.

Police and rescue service people said that the victims sustained injuries of varying degrees, but none of them were critical.

The injured were admitted to Helsinki-Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS).

The city of Espoo is responsible for the collapsed bridge, which was designed and built by a scaffolding supplier, said City of Espoo in a press release.

The bridges are inspected on a weekly basis. The most recent inspection was carried out on 5 May, and there is an inspection record of it.

The Safety Investigation Authority of Finland and yhe police are investigating into the matter to find out the reason behind the accident.

Other operators are also responsible for some parts of the routes. The City of Espoo will make sure that all bridges in the area are inspected without delay.

President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Espoo mayor Jukka Mäkelä expressed shock at the incident of the bridge collapse.