According to pictures broadcast by the Finnish media, the planks of the footbridge broke under the weight of the teenagers, causing them to fall down from a height of four to five meters.
About 27 people, mostly from a school group, were injured in Finland Thursday when a makeshift pedestrian bridge collapsed near a construction site, from which they fell several meters onto a road.
“About 27 boys, most of them minors, were injured of varying severity,” the Western Uusimaa Rescue Department in Espoo, near the capital, Helsinki, said in a statement. The accident occurred around 09:20 local time (06:20 GMT).
According to pictures broadcast by the Finnish media, the planks of the pedestrian bridge broke under the weight of the teenagers, causing them to fall down from a height of between four and five meters.
The services department at Helsinki University Hospital said that most of the injured were from a school group, and the Finnish media reported that they were from a class of approximately 14-year-old students, and they were going to a nearby museum. 24 of the injured were taken to hospital, but their lives are not in danger, according to hospital services.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin expressed her solidarity with the students and said in a tweet on Twitter, “Our support for the injured in the accident and their families. You are on our minds.”
For his part, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto tweeted, stressing the provision of assistance to the injured and their families, saying: “Terrible news about an accident in Tapiola. Providing support and assistance is important now.”
“Nobody suffered life-threatening injuries,” the school group said in a statement. Media have circulated images of the footbridge largely “intact”, with a pile of planks under one end. Rescue workers can be seen providing first aid to injured pupils on the road.
According to Helsinki University Hospital, “The injuries are mostly fractures at the level of the limbs. The police are conducting a technical investigation in the area to find out the real causes of the accident.”