At least 12 people, including three children, were killed when a violent storm swept across France, Italy and Austria on Thursday evening. On the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, five people have been confirmed dead after the storm, writes Le Figaro. One of them is a 13-year-old girl who died when a tree fell on her at a campsite. Wind gusts of up to 224 km/h caused trees to fall and roofs tore off houses. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has traveled to the island to look at the damage. Falling trees and branches caused severe damage to a campsite in Lavanttal in Austria on Thursday. Photo: GEORG BACHHIESL / AFP Five killed in Austria In Austria, two girls aged four and eight were killed by falling trees. The two girls were swimming at a lake near the border with Slovenia, writes Reuters. In the town of Gaming, three people were killed by a tree that fell on them, the police said. The storm also led to power outages in large areas. In the south of Austria, the trains were stopped after the power went out. Storm in Venice Bricks blew down from the famous bell tower (campanile) of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Photo: ANDREA PATTARO / AFP The storm also caused trees to fall in Italy. Two people were killed by falling trees in two different places in Tuscany. In Venice, strong gusts caused bricks to be blown down from the bell tower of St. Mark’s Church. Parts of the square in front of the church were blocked off. In the Tuscan resort town of Piombino, a Ferris wheel was caught by the wind and one of the seats was blown away. No one was involved when the incident happened. The storm is expected to spread south in Italy on Friday. The police have sent out danger warnings for 11 of the country’s 20 regions for Friday. Smoke rises from a forest fire near Alcubas in eastern Spain on Thursday. Photo: Alberto Saiz / AP The heat waves continue At the same time, the heat wave continues in Spain. In Seville in southern Spain, Yr warns that it will be 40 degrees in the next few days. Nevertheless, rain in recent days has helped firefighters battling large forest fires. A large forest fire in the Valencia region should now be under control, writes Reuters. So far this year, 2,830 square kilometers have been consumed by flames in Spain. That is more than four times as much as the 670 km² that on average is destroyed by fire in a whole year, according to AP. Experts say climate change is bringing with it droughts and heat waves that are contributing to the fires. A burnt-out bus in a fire-ravaged landscape in eastern Algeria on Thursday. Photo: RAMZI BOUDINA / Reuters 38 dead in Algeria In Algeria, the number of people killed in forest fires in recent days has now risen to 38. Most have died in the region of El Tarf near the border with Tunisia. 12 people died in a bus that was engulfed in flames. The fires are due to drought and a strong heat wave. Four people have been arrested, suspected of lighting some of the fires. The authorities in Algeria are now heavily criticized for not having been adequately prepared before this year’s fire season after a record number of people died in fires last year.
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Several children killed in severe storm in southern Europe – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
