Flooding halts underground rail services in central Helsinki

Three underground Metro stations in central Helsinki, the capital of Finland remained closed Monday morning after a water main burst on Sunday evening, flooding the tunnels beneath.

The main Metro station is expected to be out of service for several weeks.

Extra buses and trams have been organised to help ease transport problems and commuters were urged to reserve extra travel time and to consider alternative routes.

The burst main which caused the transportation breakdown was traced Sunday evening to the front entrance of the railway station in central Helsinki. Officials said there were hundreds or even thousands of cubic litres of water in the station tunnel and boarding platform, while the water in the tunnel's exit shaft was several metres deep.

The flooding was brought under control within a few hours. Rescuers said no one had been injured in the flood, but officials estimated that the water caused at least a million euros (1.5 million U.S. dollars) damage.

Repairs continued from Sunday evening into Monday morning, with work focused on extracting the water. Emergency workers said they had not detected any signs of structural damage.

Source: Xinhua