Police investigate aggravated offences after Rovaniemi ore-truck crash

Police are investigating suspected aggravated endangerment of traffic safety and causing injury after a crash involving an ore-concentrate truck in Rovaniemi on Tuesday, Yle reports. Two people were injured.

The collision involved two heavy vehicle combinations, a car and a van on Highway 4 in the morning. Police said the trailer of one vehicle combination struck another combination and the car and van travelling behind it. The road was closed for more than two hours.

Only one of the heavy vehicle drivers is suspected of offences, police said. Investigators are examining the circumstances and causes of the crash, and the charges may change as the investigation progresses. Police said they would not provide further details because the investigation is at an early stage.

Boliden, a mining company operating in Sodankylä, confirmed that one of the vehicles belonged to a service provider transporting ore for the company. Police did not say whether the suspected driver was driving the ore truck or the other vehicle combination.

One of the heavy vehicles was carrying copper concentrate, which can cause respiratory symptoms and skin irritation on contact. As a precaution, drivers waiting to pass the crash site were told to switch off their air conditioning while driving past.

Jussi Hannukari, an on-call chief at the Lapland Rescue Department, said accidents involving mining transports are not frequent, but they occur every year. He said copper concentrate is not separately marked and such transports do not carry the orange plate showing a substance’s hazard identification number or United Nations number.

Mining operations in Lapland also require chemicals that are transported on main roads. Hannukari said the distance of mines from populated areas, limited rescue resources and long travel times can make accidents especially challenging. Winter conditions, narrow roads and slippery surfaces further increase the risk, while removing spilled chemicals from the environment is more difficult in winter.

After Tuesday’s crash, the driving lanes were cleaned to prevent vehicles from spreading copper concentrate. Removing the material usually requires an excavator rather than shovels.

Tom Söderman, chief executive of Boliden Kevitsa, did not comment on the cause of the crash. He said the mine’s trucks make 18 to 20 trips along Highway 4 on weekdays. The Tuesday crash was the second time in just over two years that one of the mine’s trucks had been involved in an accident.