Violent thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds on Thursday left about 45,000 households without power on the French island of Corsica, where five people were killed.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Friday during a visit to Corsica that five people were killed on the island—correcting a figure of six dead he had given a day earlier.
The storm produced gusts of more than 220 kph (136 mph) in some areas, the national weather agency Meteo France said.
Storms in recent days have slammed Western European countries after a summer of extreme weather, while neighbors in central and eastern Europe are still suffering exceptional heat waves and drought.
In Corsica, a 13-year-old girl died after a tree fell in a campsite in the coastal town of Sagone.
A 72-year-old woman was killed when a beach restaurant roof fell on her vehicle in Coggia, and a 46-year-old man died in a campsite in the town of Calvi.
Rescue crews found the bodies of a 62-year-old fisherman and an unidentified kayaker off Corsica’s west and east coasts, according to the French maritime authority for the Mediterranean.
It said both died as a result of the sudden storm and that more than 100 grounded, wrecked or stranded ships in the area have called for emergency help.
