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Charges filed in fatal 2017 level crossing crash

The Deputy Prosecutor General's office said it is filing charges against the driver of a military lorry involved in a crash that claimed four lives in 2017.

Raaseporin onnettomuus tasoristeys ilmakuva 2
Aerial photo of the level crossing in Skogby, the site of a crash between a military lorry and light rail train that claimed four lives in October 2017. Image: Jaani Lampinen / YLE
  • Yle News

Finland's Deputy Prosecutor General's office announced on Thursday it is filing charges against the driver of a military lorry when it collided with a light-rail train in Skogby, a village in the southern region of Raseborg in 2017.

Last September the Western Uusimaa District Prosecutor's office announced that it did not plan to seek charges, but the deputy prosecutor's office announcement has reversed that decision.

The crash, which took place at the end of October 2017, claimed four lives. Three conscripts who were riding in the off-road lorry and one passenger on the light-rail train died in the crash.

Eleven others were also injured in the collision. The passenger on the train who died was reported to have suffered from a medical emergency.

Charges heading to court

On Thursday the office of the Deputy Prosecutor General announced it is filing criminal charges against the driver of the military transport vehicle - charges including traffic endangerment, three counts of manslaughter and professional misconduct.

The deputy prosecutor's statement on the case said drivers are expected to be more cautious at level crossings, saying that the driver had an opportunity and should have acted with greater caution.

The deputy prosecutor's office said it suspects the lorry driver violated traffic safety regulations and traffic laws, actions which it claims resulted in the deaths of three conscripts.

The Finnish Defence Forces' communications officer Hanna Tallberg would not comment about the charges on Thursday, saying that the matter is a question of an ongoing legal process.