Child freed from playground equipment in Helsinki after rescue operation
A young child was freed from playground equipment in Itäkeskus, Helsinki, on Tuesday afternoon after becoming trapped between the foot pegs of a carousel-like device. The incident occurred in the yard of the Puotinharju daycare center, where staff attempted to free the child for approximately half an hour before calling the rescue service for assistance.
Jaakko Pohjonen, deputy fire chief of the Mellunkylä rescue station, stated that the child, who was under the age of five, remained calm throughout the ordeal. Despite initial attempts to turn the child free, the rescue team ultimately had to cut one of the foot pegs with a saw to safely extract the child. Ilta-Sanomat reports that the child was unharmed and left the scene in good spirits to continue the day’s activities.
Pohjonen praised the daycare staff for their support during the incident, noting that their efforts helped keep the child at ease. He suggested that the child may have been attempting to leave the equipment to go inside with the other children when the incident occurred. The deputy fire chief also highlighted a potential safety oversight in the design of the play equipment, explaining that while such structures are generally made safe, the gap between the foot pegs was just the right size for a small child to become trapped.
Iltalehti confirmed that no injuries were reported, and the rescue department successfully freed the child without further complications.
