Charges filed over cyclist death in fire at national park
Published : 05 Feb 2021, 13:59
Updated : 06 Feb 2021, 09:12
The prosecutor’s office has filed charges in the case of the death of a cyclist in an accidental shooting at the Urho Kekkonen National Park in October last year.
The suspect, a man hailed from Savukoski area in Lapland, is accused of aggravated involuntary manslaughter as well as a hunting crime, reported the national broadcaster Yle.
The report, quoting the police’s preliminary investigation, said that the suspect was hunting birds in the park and did not see the cyclist as the rifle was discharged, due to snow on the trees obscuring the hunter’s view.
The cyclist died after sustaining a bullet wound from the accidental fire on 18 October at the Urho Kekkonen National Park in Lapland.
The police said the accident took place at about 11:00am when the cyclist and four other mountain bikers were passing through an area between Kemihaara and Korvatunturi.
The 30-year old-victim, who hailed from Helsinki, succumbed to his bullet wound at the spot, while the four others remained unhurt.
It was the second incident of accidental fire causing human death by a hunter in the country in October 2020.
On 10 October 2020, one person was killed in an accidental shooting of a hunting rifle at Kuusamo.