At least 24 youths were killed and 14 injured after their bus collided with a truck on an icy road in central Finland.
The crash happened around 2 a.m. (midnight Irish time) near the town of Konginkangas, 200 miles north of Helsinki, and police said it was one of the worst in decades.
Police said the bus, carrying around 40 youths under the age of 20 on a ski trip to Lapland from the capital Helsinki and the city of Tampere, was mangled after hitting the carriage of the approaching truck.
Industrial paper reels that the truck was carrying flew into the bus. The truck driver was not injured but is being treated for shock.
The Finnish government has requested flags to fly at half mast today, according to national news agency STT.