Seven killed in Finnish road accidents amid severe weather

AT LEAST seven people have died in road accidents in Finland over Thursday and Friday due to adverse weather conditions. Police have confirmed multiple incidents linked to poor visibility, icy roads, and heavy snowfall caused by the ongoing storm.

The deadliest accident occurred on Friday morning in Seinäjoki, where two children lost their lives in a collision between a car and a van on the Pohjan Valtatie road.

A third child remains in critical condition. Police are investigating the crash as a case of endangering traffic safety and causing death, with the car's driver as the main suspect.

In Nakkila, an elderly man died after his car veered off a forest road and hit a tree. The incident happened shortly after noon on Friday. Police have suggested poor road conditions as a possible contributing factor.

On Thursday, two separate head-on collisions claimed lives in Kittilä and Mäntsälä. In Kittilä, two people were killed when a car travelling towards Rovaniemi crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with another vehicle. Police are investigating this incident as a case of gross negligence.

In Mäntsälä, a driver died after their car entered the wrong lane and struck an oncoming lorry. The road was slippery at the time due to heavy snow.

Another fatal crash occurred in Mikkeli late Thursday night. A 35-year-old man died after his car collided with a lorry. Authorities suspect alcohol was involved and are investigating the case as aggravated drunk driving and gross endangerment of traffic safety.

Elsewhere, icy roads caused a lorry to slide off the road in Heinola on Friday morning. While no fatalities were reported, the incident resulted in significant traffic disruption as the road remained closed for hours.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute has issued warnings about hazardous driving conditions across large parts of the country. The Jari storm, which began on Wednesday, has brought heavy snowfall and rain, with some areas expected to see up to 20 centimetres of snow by the weekend.

Meteorologist Kaisa Solin explained that the snow is accompanied by fluctuating temperatures, increasing the likelihood of compacted ice on roads and pavements. "Pedestrians should be cautious, as the wet snow can become slippery underfoot," Solin said.

Thousands of households are also without power due to the storm. As of midday Friday, around 9,000 customers were experiencing outages, according to the Finnish Energy Authority’s outage map.Police are urging drivers to exercise extreme caution as road conditions are expected to remain poor, particularly in southern and central Finland and northern Lapland.

HT