A footbridge structure failed in Tapiola, Espoo on Thursday morning injuring 27 people.
A plyboard-based footbridge collapsed in Tapiola, Espoo at around 9:30 in the morning on Thursday. The bridge was used by the public as a footbridge over a construction site.
In total, 27 people—most underaged—fell from five meters to asphalt. 24 victims, including one teacher, were transported to four hospitals across the metropolitan area.
The victims are from the elementary school of Kalasatama in Helsinki. They attend the eighth grade.
The injuries of the victims are not life-threatening, according to Eero Hirvensalo, chief medical officer at the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), who spoke to the media at a press conference earlier on Thursday.
Several eyewitnesses interviewed by different news outlets have described the bridge as “scary,” “shaky” and “creepy.” “The bridge had a horrible noise while you crossed it,” a group of teenagers said to Finnish tabloid Iltalehti.
The bridge was last inspected on May 5, according to Mayor Jukka Mäkelä of Espoo, who spoke in a press conference. The bridge was about one to two years old.
The police are carrying out a technical investigation, and other investigations into the incident continue.
Mayor Juhani Vartiainen of Helsinki stressed in a press conference that all similar structures in the city will now be inspected, “so that incidents like this would never happen again.”
Mayor Hirvensalo said that similar action will be taken in Espoo as well.
