A branch of Holiday Inn was the unintended termination point for four runaway train carriages Monday morning, as they careered through the buffer stop at Helsinki’s Central railway station before slamming into the hotel.
Rescuers said that of the three staff that had been aboard the carriages at the time; only one sustained minor injuries whilst no bystanders were hurt in the accident, reports Newsroom Finland.
According to the on-site rescue team, the actions of the platform security guard likely prevented further injuries as he won praise for alerting platform passengers of the situation ahead of the impact which demolished one of the conference rooms at the hotel. Authorities confirmed that had the room been hosting meetings at the time, deaths would have been unavoidable. The damaged wing of the hotel was evacuated as a precaution, while the Helsinki fire brigade claimed that there had been no time for those working in the conference wing of the Holiday Inn to be forewarned of the impending impact.
Finnish Railways (VR) said that no immediate explanation had been found for the four carriages becoming detached from a train that was reversing into the station at the time. VR added that the train had already been rerouted to an outside track to ensure that disruptions were minimised around the central platforms.
Mid-morning peak hour rail services were brought to a halt following the incident with VR assuring that normal services would be resumed by early evening.
