Nineteen injured in Vantaa coach crash
Chartered bus swerves off road and topples on its side
Nineteen people sustained injuries on Saturday afternoon in a potentially disastrous coach accident on the Hämeenlinnanväylä urban motorway in the southern city of Vantaa. Despite the threatening nature of the accident, the passengers were spared serious injuries.
The accident took place about 200 metres from the Martinlaakso South intersection. At 3:40 in the afternoon, for an as yet unknown reason, the chartered coach - which was heading towards the capital Helsinki - swerved off the road and flipped onto its side.
The driver of the bus later told the police that the controls of the vehicle had behaved abnormally during the journey.
At the time of the accident the weather was fine. The sun was shining and the road surface was dry. The speed limit at the scene was 80 km/h.
Judging by the markings in the grass, the vehicle travelled dozens of metres along the hard shoulder before flipping over. Eventually it stopped on its side against a birch tree growing on the shallow embankment beside the highway.
Without the tree, the outcome could have been more gruesome. "The tree may have prevented the buss from starting to tumble", duty fire chief Arto Latvala speculated.
Four rescue department units and ten ambulances attended the scene. All the passengers were taken to local hospitals. The driver was the only one to escape the accident completely unscathed.
According to a doctor who attended the scene, none of the injuries were life-threatening, however. "But ten people were in a definite need for first aid", Latvala explained.
In the evening it was reported that a couple of the injured had needed surgical treatment. Some of the passengers will have to remain in hospital care for a few days. Nine of the injured mainly sustained minor bruises.
Because of the accident, the police had to close all traffic on the southbound lanes of Hämeenlinnanväylä for some time.
According to the police, the driver was not driving under the influence.
The bus was lifted upright and towed away for a police technical investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
The passengers on the chartered coach were middle-aged people on their way to enjoy an evening at Helsinki's Linnanmäki amusement park.
The police are investigating the accident as aggravated endangerment of traffic safety and causing bodily harm.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.6.2006 - TODAY |
 Nineteen injured in Vantaa coach crash
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