1 killed in level crossing crash in Lapland

One person was killed when a private car collided with a train at a level crossing at Tervola in Lapland on Thursday afternoon, reported national broadcaster Yle.

The accident took place at about 1:00 pm when the train knocked down the private car at the Hallaojantie level crossing. Driver of the car, an elderly person was killed on the spot.

Police did not divulge detail of the accident immediately.

National railway operator VR said that train services between Rovaniemi and Oulu were delayed by about 90 minutes due to the accident.

Earlier, on May 7, a motorist died when his automobile collided with an intercity train in Turku.

The accident took place on a level crossing when the security barriers were in the do-not-enter position. The train had just begun its journey from Turku to Helsinki when it happened.

On October 26, 2017, four people including three military personnel were killed in an accident that took place at the Raseborg level crossing when a train collided with a military vehicle near the town of Tammisaari, some 100km west of Helsinki, at a level crossing. The passenger train was commuting between Karjaa and the port Town of Hanko.

Although the human casualties in the accident shocked the whole society and raised questions about the safety of the travellers, such accident is not new in Finland.

According to the Finnish Transport Agency, at least 27 people have been killed in level crossing accidents in the country since 2013 and all of them took place at crossings where there was no signal light or warning for vehicles about train movement. The agency also said that most of the level crossings, 2102 out of the total 2,778, in the country have no signal light.