Temporary bridges in Tapiola closed, police probe into collapse as crime

The City of Espoo on Friday closed the temporary bridges between Merituulentie and Itätuulenkuja in Tapiola in order to check their safety, said the city in a press release.

The decision was taken following the collapse of a temporary bridge at the area on Thursday where dozens of people mostly school children were injured.

The closed routes will be reopened once their safety has been ensured.

The authority also made temporary traffic arrangements during the night between Thursday and Friday.

People can access the street level on Helmakuja (level M) via Tuulimäki. The elevator could be taken from the street level to the bus stop, metro station and Ainoa shopping centre.

Accessible routes run via Leimuniitty or alternatively via the Tykkitie underpass.

The authority also deployed guides in ten different places in Tapiola on Friday to direct people.

The city is now focusing on inspecting the bridges, taking care of temporary traffic arrangements and responding to authorities’ requests for information.

The city is responsible for the collapsed bridge, which was designed and built by a scaffolding supplier.

The bridge had been inspected on a weekly basis. The Safety Investigation Authority is investigating the cause of the collapse.

The Safety Investigation Authority and the police have completed their on-site investigations, and the bridge will be dismantled during the weekend.

Meanwhile, the police are investigating into the incident under the offence types of endangering and injury caused through negligence, said police in a press release on Friday.

The offence types may become more specific as the investigation progresses.

According to preliminary information conveyed by the Emergency Response Centre, there had been some kind of cave in. Three patrols from Western Uusimaa Police Department joined the mission immediately.

More patrols and police technical and tactical investigators were also immediately called to the scene. During the course of the day, Helsinki and Eastern Uusimaa Police also supported their colleagues in various ways.

According to the current information available to the police, the collapsed bridge was a metal-structured footbridge intended for temporary use.

Around 45 people were on crossing the bridge when it gave way and 24 of these fell from the bridge when it collapsed.

The fall from the bridge to the ground was about 4.5 metres. Most of the people falling were underage schoolchildren from Kalasatama comprehensive school in Helsinki.

In addition, one teacher was also among those falling from the bridge. They have various degrees of injury but as far as is currently known, none sustained life-threatening injuries.

Police, however, said that there is no longer any risk in the area and access to the scene of the accident has been prevented.

The technical investigation is still ongoing and the Safety Investigation Authority Finland will also carry out its own investigation.

The police are investigating the incident as a crime because it resulted in serious physical injuries and to establish liability issues relating to the incident.

At this stage, however, it is too early to form a view of who is possibly suspected of the offence.