Powerful storms affect Central and Southern Europe

Powerful storms have battered areas of central and southern Europe, killing at least 12 people including 3 children. The deaths, most from falling trees, were reported in Italy and Austria, and on the French island of Corsica.

Heavy rain and winds wrecked campsites on the island, while in Venice, Italy, masonry was blown off the Bell tower of St Mark's Basilica. The storms follow weeks of heat wave and drought across much of the



continent.

In Corsica, winds gusting up to 224 km per hour uprooted trees and damaged mobile homes. Authorities there said a 13-year-old girl was killed by a falling tree on a campsite.

A 46-year-old man died in a similar incident and a woman in her 70s was killed when her car was hit by the detached roof of a beach hut. Two other people, a fisherman, 62, and a female kayaker, 60, died out at sea.