4 killed when bus plunges onto train tracks in Finland

A bus plunged from a bridge onto railway tracks in central Finland Friday, killing four people and injuring more than 20, police said.

The bus smashed into five cars stopped at a red light in the city of Kuopio before going off the edge and falling onto the line, police spokesman Miika Mutanen told The Associated Press. Photos showed the white bus on its side on the tracks with the bridge rail broken.

“We spoke briefly to the bus driver who told us he wanted to brake but they didn’t work and that he tried to avoid” other vehicles, Mutanen said.

There was no train on the tracks at the time of the accident at around 3 p.m.

Mutanen said two people were seriously injured and 20 others were brought to the hospital in Kuopio, some 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Helsinki, with minor injuries.

The bus belonged to the Kemin Liikenne company.

Finnish railway operator VR said that all train traffic on the stretch had been halted and passengers were being transported by bus instead.

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila tweeted “sad news from Kuopio,” and expressed his condolences to the victims.