Lifeguards were on duty at Vantaa's Kuusijärvi beach on Friday evening when two children were rescued unresponsive from the water.
The two children were resuscitated and sent to hospital. Both were aged under 10, and they were swimming in the shallow water designated for children and closed off by jetties.
"The father contacted lifeguards who started the search and made announcements to those on the beach that two children were missing," said Markku Tiusanen, Vantaa municipality's on-duty manager of swimming beaches.
Once the children were rescued, they were resuscitated by two lifeguards and professionally proficient bystanders, along with police once they arrived. They were then transferred to hospital.
Tiusanen emphasised that the risk of drowning does not disappear even on a crowded, child-focused beach with lifeguards, and parents should remain vigilant.
"Drownings happen almost unnoticed and very quickly," said Tiusanen. "Unfortunately often you still see that people are at the beach but aren't fully involved with their children. They could be on their phones or focused on something else."
Police said on Friday that some of the efforts at treating the children had been filmed by onlookers, and appealed to the public not to share or spread the footage online.
