Around 27 people, a majority of them children, were injured on Thursday when a pedestrian bridge collapsed in the Finnish city of Espoo, just outside the country's capital, a spokesperson for the Helsinki regional rescue service said.

Many of the injured were part of a group of school children, the Helsinki Hospital Authority said in a separate statement.

Finnish media published pictures of at least five people lying on the ground. (Reporting by Esi Lehto, writing by Terje Solsvik, editing by Anna Ringstrom)