03-19-2004, 07:28 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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/nɑndəsˈkrɪpt/
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Bus vs. truck - 24 dead
Quote:
Finnish bus crash leaves 24 dead
The bus was carrying ski tourists to the northern region of Lapland
At least 24 people were killed and 15 injured when a bus and truck collided on icy roads in central Finland.
The bus was carrying 40 people, mostly teenagers, to ski resorts in Lapland.
Police said the collision at about 0200 (2400 GMT) sent the truck's cargo of heavy paper rolls crashing through the windscreen of the bus.
The Finnish government declared a national day of mourning for what it said was the country's worst ever traffic accident.
It also recommended that flags be flown at half-mast and launched an inquiry into the accident.
'Serious condition'
The collision happened near the town of Aanekoski, about 200km (125 miles) north of the capital Helsinki.
Rescuers arriving at the scene said the bus was so badly crumpled that it took hours to cut some survivors free.
The injured, some of them in serious condition, were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Jyvaskyla.
"We have some 24 people dead, most of them aged 15 to 20 years old," the hospital's chief medical officer Jukka Puolakka told AFP.
Police said the precise cause of the accident had not yet been established.
However the truck driver blamed icy conditions for the crash.
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