Storm dumps trailers in lake

2010-07-15 13:04

The Hague - One woman was killed and several other campers were injured when a severe storm picked up 10 trailers and dumped them in a lake at a camping site in the eastern Netherlands, police said on Thursday.

The storm hit on Wednesday night, knocking down trees and electricity pylons and stripping tiles off roofs.

On Thursday morning, authorities were still pulling wrecked caravans out of the lake at Vethuizen, 130km east of Amsterdam.

"A caravan was lifted into the air, tipped on its side, went over me and into the lake," Gijs Strijk told national broadcaster NOS.

Emergency services also reported 10 injuries in the southern province of Limburg, including four people who were hurt when a tree fell on their car and a motorist injured when lightning struck a car.

In neighbouring Germany, international airports in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf had to be closed temporarily because of storms.

One man was killed by a falling tree in the county of Werra-Meissner in the south-western state of Hesse.

Earlier on Wednesday, parts of a highway near Osnabrueck in northwestern Germany had to be closed because the road's concrete and asphalt surface broke due to the heat and then rose by 30cm.
 

- AP