Two children were killed during a violent storm and a thunderstorm in Austria. On Thursday, Austrian media reported that trees fell on them in a lake in Sankt Andra, Carinthia. Three hikers were killed in a lightning strike in another part of the country.
The children who died were two girls, aged three to eight, writes the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung. Fifteen people were also injured in the lake, two of them in serious condition. One person who was in the water is still missing.
Hikers took shelter in a hut. Then lightning struck a tree.
According to the Austrian Meteorological Service, gusts of winds up to 139 kilometers per hour were measured in southern Austria. In Styria, Carinthia and East Tyrol, all trains stopped after power outages due to the storm. Tens of thousands of homes are without electricity.
Dozens of trees fell on the road near Griffin on the A2 motorway in Carinthia. There was also a power outage in the tunnels. The important road connecting to Italy in various places has been closed for cleaning and repair work.
