Finnish politician dies in parliament in Helsinki

A politician in Finland has died in the country’s main parliament building in the capital, Helsinki.

Eemeli Peltonen, 30, who was an MP for the Social Democratic Party, is believed to have taken his own life in the building and was found on Tuesday morning, local media reported.

His sudden death has shocked Finland, with politicians on all sides expressing their sadness.

“He was a much-loved member of our community and we will miss him deeply. A young life has ended far too early,” said Tytti Tuppurainen, chair of the Social Democratic parliamentary group, in a statement.

Although parliament is in summer recess, all official political work was suspended by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo for the rest of the day.

Orpo held a minute’s silence in honour of Peltonen who, he said, had been well liked by colleagues, public broadcaster YLE reports.

This was shared by the parliamentary speaker, Jussi Halla-aho, who wrote on X that Peltonen had been a “well-liked colleague who was respected across party lines”.

Police were called to the Eduskuntatalo – the parliamentary building – at 11:06 (08:06 GMT) on Tuesday. They said no foul play was suspected.

Peltonen’s death was confirmed about three hours later in a short parliamentary statement, which said the community shared in “the grief of his relatives”.

Peltonen, who represented the southern region of Uusimaa, was in his first term as a member of parliament, having been elected in 2023.

His political ambitions started early – Peltonen was elected as a city councillor for the town of Jarvenpaa at just 18 years old.

When he was 22 he was elected chairman of the city board – the youngest person to hold the title, media reported at the time.

In late June, Peltonen posted on his social media accounts that he had been “away from a lot of parliamentary work in the last weeks” because he had “a kidney problem” that led to an infection.

In the post, he explained that he was being treated with “an intravenous antibiotic cure in Meilahti [a suburb of Helsinki], which takes its time”.

“I’m already discharged from hospital, but due to the situation I’m on summer sick leave and I’m now fully focused on recovering from the illness,” he wrote.

If you are affected by this article you can access support and information at BBC Action Line