The crash happened just before 1:00 pm local time (1100GMT) on Thursday not far from the town of Rovaniemi -- whose Santa Claus Village attracts visitors from around the world -- Finnish police said.

The two people who were killed died at the scene, police added, with several of the 37 people involved in the accident taken to hospital for treatment.

Police said the driver of the minivan is suspected of traffic violations and negligent homicide and negligent injury at this stage of the investigation, according to police.

Police said they were "in contact with the embassies of the countries concerned".

While the cause of the accident had not been established, police said driving conditions were poor due to snowfall and snow on the road.