School children injured in a bridge collapse in Finland

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Twenty-seven people, most of them schoolchildren, were injured on Thursday when a temporary pedestrian bridge collapsed in the Finnish city of Espoo, outside the capital Helsinki, rescue services said.

They added that the injuries are not life threatening.

The children were among a group of 14 and 15-year-olds on a field trip with their teachers when the bridge collapsed, a Helsinki district doctor told a news conference.

“They mainly suffer from injuries to their extremities,” said chief physician Eru Hirvensalo.

Police later said they had opened an investigation into the accident, which left 26 children and an adult injured, 24 of whom required hospital care.

Police added that the temporary bridge was built from plywood while construction work was still going on in the area.

Finnish media published pictures of at least five people lying on the ground while being looked after by rescue workers.

Prominent figures, including President Sauley Niinisto, expressed their condolences on social media.

“Terrible news of the accident,” Niinisto wrote on Twitter, adding that the focus was now on providing support to the injured.

Additional reporting by Essie Leto, writing by Terry Solsvik, and editing by Anna Ringstrom

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