Seventy-year-old twin brothers have died within hours of one another after separate accidents on the same road in northern Finland.

The first of the twins died when he was hit by a lorry while riding his bike in Raahe, 600 kilometres north of the capital, Helsinki.

It made my hair stand on end when I heard the two were brothers, and identical twins at that

He died just 1.5km from the spot where his brother was killed.

"This is simply a historic coincidence. Although the road is a busy one, accidents don't occur every day," said police officer Marja-Leena Huhtala.

Police in Raahe say that it is unlikely that the second man knew that his brother had already been killed, as they had not yet informed the family of the accident.

"It made my hair stand on end when I heard the two were brothers, and identical twins at that. It came to mind that perhaps someone from upstairs had a say in this," said Ms Huhtala.

Many twins believe they share a mysterious connection to each other, and can feel each other's pain or distress.

But it is thought extremely rare for deaths to occur within such a short space of time.