Six foreign tourists died and about 60 people were injured after a violent storm hit the Halkidiki peninsula in northern Greece, reports on July 11 said.

Storm damage from the strong winds and torrential rain included uprooted trees, fallen balconies, flooded hotels and houses, and roofs of restaurants torn off.

Reports said that the victims included a 54-year-old Romanian and her won who died after the roof of a tavern fell on them.

In Nea Potida, a Russian and her two-year-old son died after being hit by a falling tree as they were trying to make their way back to their hotel.

The caravan of two Czechs was carried away by the strong wind and they are also dead.

About 60 injured people sought medical attention. Two were reported to be in severe condition.

Driving in many areas is difficult because of damage to the road surface.

The olive harvest has been completely destroyed, Bulgarian National Television reported.

Halkidiki is a popular tourist destination for Bulgarians. Krassimir Serafimov, First Secretary of the Consulate General in Thessaloniki, said that so far there was no information about any injured Bulgarians. </s> Thessaloniki: Violent hail storms killed at least five tourists in northern Greece late Wednesday, police said.

A Czech couple died when strong winds blew their caravan away while a Russian man and his son were killed by a falling tree, they said.

Public television said there was possibly another victim of the storms which ripped through the region of Khalkidiki near the city of Thessaloniki. </s> At least seven people died, including two children, and dozens were injured when a freak storm struck northern Greece.

Strong winds and torrential rain hit the popular tourist area of Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki, on Wednesday night. </s> Debris are seen after a storm on a beach at Vergia village in Halkidiki region, northern Greece on July 11, 20...

(GREECE): Tornadoes and violent hailstorms killed six tourists in northern 

Dozens more were injured when strong winds hit the region of Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki, authorities added. 

Television footage showed overturned cars, fallen trees, torn roofs and mudslides. 

"Six tourists were killed and at least 30 people were injured during this cyclone," Charalambos Steriadis, head of civil protection in northern Greece, said. 

The freak storm only lasted about 20 minutes, according to witnesses interviewed by state television ERT. 

A Czech couple died when strong winds blew their caravan away while a Russian man and his son were killed by a falling tree, police said. 

Debris from a building killed a woman from 

According to port police, a fisherman in his sixties was also missing. 

"It was an unprecedented phenomenon," very strong winds, tornadoes and violent hailstorms, Steriadis said, adding that Halkidiki had declared a state of emergency. 

At least 140 rescue workers were involved in the operation, emergency chief Vassilis Varthakoyannis said. 

The minister for citizen protection, Michalis Chryssohoidis, will visit the site on Thursday morning. 

The storms came after temperatures in Greece soared to 37 degrees centigrade (98 degrees Fahrenheit) over the past two days. 

 Download The Times of India News App for Latest World News (GREECE): Tornadoes and violent hailstorms killed six tourists in northern THESSALONIKI (GREECE): Tornadoes and violent hailstorms killed six tourists in northern Greece late Wednesday, police said.Dozens more were injured when strong winds hit the region of Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki, authorities added.Television footage showed overturned cars, fallen trees, torn roofs and mudslides."Six tourists were killed and at least 30 people were injured during this cyclone," Charalambos Steriadis, head of civil protection in northern Greece, said.The freak storm only lasted about 20 minutes, according to witnesses interviewed by state television ERT.A Czech couple died when strong winds blew their caravan away while a Russian man and his son were killed by a falling tree, police said.Debris from a building killed a woman from Romania and her child.According to port police, a fisherman in his sixties was also missing."It was an unprecedented phenomenon," very strong winds, tornadoes and violent hailstorms, Steriadis said, adding that Halkidiki had declared a state of emergency.At least 140 rescue workers were involved in the operation, emergency chief Vassilis Varthakoyannis said.The minister for citizen protection, Michalis Chryssohoidis, will visit the site on Thursday morning.The storms came after temperatures in Greece soared to 37 degrees centigrade (98 degrees Fahrenheit) over the past two days. </s> Tornadoes and violent hailstorms killed six tourists in northern Greece late Wednesday, police said.

Dozens more were injured when strong winds hit the region of Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki, authorities added.

"Six tourists were killed and at least 30 people were injured during this cyclone," Charalambos Steriadis, head of civil protection in northern Greece, said.

The freak storm only lasted about 20 minutes, according to witnesses interviewed by state television ERT.

A Czech couple died when strong winds blew their caravan away while a Russian man and his son were killed by a falling tree, police said.

Debris from a building killed a woman from Romania and her child.

According to port police, a fisherman in his sixties was also missing.

"It was an unprecedented phenomenon," very strong winds, tornadoes and violent hailstorms, Steriadis said, adding that Halkidiki had declared a state of emergency.

At least 140 rescue workers were involved in the operation, emergency chief Vassilis Varthakoyannis said.

The minister for citizen protection, Michalis Chryssohoidis, will visit the site on Thursday morning.

The storms came after temperatures in Greece soared to 37 degrees centigrade (98 degrees Fahrenheit) over the past two days. </s> North Macedonia Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov has expressed his sympathy for the victims of a violent overnight storm in northern Greece in which at least seven people were killed and more than 100 injured.

 

 In a message posted on Twitter, Dimitrov said he was “devastated to hear about the horrible storm in the Halkidiki area in Greece that resulted in loss of life, injuries and substantial damage.”

 

 “Deepest condolences to the families and loved ones. We stand ready to help with whatever we can,” he added.

 

 Halkidiki is a popular tourism destination for people in neighboring Balkan countries. A state of emergency has been declared in the region. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption People take shelter as storms batter northern Greece

Seven people, including six tourists, have been killed in a violent storm that swept across a region of northern Greece on Wednesday night.

Gale-force winds, heavy rain and hailstorms lashed Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki.

A Czech couple died when their caravan was blown away, and two Romanians and two Russians also died. A seventh body was later found in the sea.

Officials say at least 100 others were injured, with 23 people hospitalised.

A state of emergency has been declared, with dozens of rescue workers dispatched to help.

Image copyright Constantine Emmanouilidi Image caption A local photographer and storm chaser caught the dramatic lightning on a 150-second long exposure

Charalambos Steriadis, head of civil protection in northern Greece, described the storm as an "unprecedented phenomenon".

It followed a spell of very hot weather in Greece with temperatures soaring to 37C (98F) over the past two days.

Winds of more than 60mph (100km/h) were recorded in the region, Reuters news agency reports.

Scenes of 'chaos'

Images and video posted on social media show trees toppled, cars overturned and buildings damaged.

Emily Kishtoo, from Surrey in the UK, was at a beach party with her family when the storm hit on Wednesday night.

"It literally came out of nowhere," she told the BBC. "The lights cut out on the beach that we were in - it was chaos.

"People running, screaming and just trying to basically get off the beach."

Image copyright EPA Image caption The damaged caravan of two elderly Czech tourists who died

Image copyright Holly Ellis Image caption Another British tourist, Holly Ellis, said windows were broken and trees downed in her hotel at Portes Beach

She says staff at the resort where she was staying with her children, aged three and five, directed the family to a bar area - which then began to flood.

"We've got two young children, there were lots of children crying, obviously very upset, very, very scared."

Electricity access at the resort has been intermittent since, she said, with no running water on Thursday morning.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption BBC Weather's Matt Taylor looks at the development of the violent storms across eastern Europe.

Witnesses say the worst of the freak storm lasted only about 20 minutes.

The Romanian woman and her child were killed when the roof of a restaurant collapsed at Nea Plagia, officials say, while the Russian man and his son were killed by a falling tree near their hotel in the seaside resort of Potidea.

A seventh body was later found in the sea on Thursday. Formal identification is yet to take place, but a 62-year-old Greek fisherman was reported missing in the area.

Those injured are mostly tourists, officials say.

"It is the first time in my 25-year career that I have lived through something like this," said Athansios Kaltsas, director of the Nea Moudania Medical Centre which treated many of the injured.

"It was so abrupt, so sudden."

The country's newly elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cancelled his schedule and is being briefed on the situation, officials say.

Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos was quoted as saying the army was ready to clear debris and would offer generators - amid reports up to 80% of the area lost its power.

This is the latest in a series of other extreme weather events across Europe in recent weeks. A heat-wave brought record June temperatures to several countries.

Golf ball-sized hail has been reported in parts of the south of France and Italy and there were forest fires in Sicily on Wednesday, including in popular beach resort areas. </s> ATHENS/NEA PLAYIA — Six foreigners including two children were killed and more than 100 other people injured when a violent, short-lived storm lashed northern Greece overnight, felling trees and ripping off rooftops.

Witnesses reported the storm had come and gone in a matter of minutes. Winds of over 100 kph (60 mph) were reported on the Halkidiki peninsula, popular with tourists in the summer.

Two elderly Czech tourists were killed when strong winds and water overturned their travel trailer, police said.

A woman and an 8-year-old boy from Romania were killed when a roof collapsed on a restaurant in the beach resort of Nea Plagia. And a man and a young boy, both Russians, died when a tree fell near their hotel in the seaside town of Potidea, authorities said.

Streets in the area were dotted with uprooted pine trees and overturned motorcycles, and wooden rooftops had been torn off and dumped on beaches. A Reuters correspondent saw sun loungers strewn in mangled heaps with other debris across Nea Plagia’s golden beaches.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose government was sworn in this week after winning elections on July 7, canceled his morning schedule and was being continuously briefed, a government official said.

Civil Protection Minister Mihalis Chrisochoidis, at the scene, said Greece was mourning the loss of life, adding: “In coming days all damage will be repaired.”

Such severe storms are unusual in Greece, where summers are typically hot and dry. But the tragedy had echoes of a wildfire almost a year ago that raced through the resort of Mati almost without warning, fanned by hot winds, trapping many inhabitants before they could flee and killing 100 people.

“It is the first time in my 25-year career that I have lived through something like this,” Athansios Kaltsas, director of the Nea Moudania Medical Centre, where many of the injured were treated for fractures, told Greek television.

“It was so abrupt, and so sudden.”

Kaltsas said patients taken to the clinic ranged in age from 8 months to over 70. Some had head injuries from trees and other falling objects.

Authorities said around 100 people, mostly tourists, had been injured, and 23 of those had been admitted to hospital. There were widespread power cuts.

“Here we dealing with a new situation,” geology and natural disasters expert Efthymios Lekkas told Skai TV. “Climate change is an accelerated and self-sustaining cycle that creates new hazards, with increased duration and intensity.” </s> Thessaloniki, Greece, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jul, 2019 ) :Violent hail storms killed at least five tourists in northern Greece late Wednesday, police said.

A Czech couple died when strong winds blew their caravan away while a Russian man and his son were killed by a falling tree, they added.

ERT television said the region of Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki, was declared a state of emergency and that the minister for citizen protection, Michalis Chryssohoidis, went to observe the rescue operation on Wednesday evening.

Temperatures in Greece have reached 37 degrees centigrade in the past two days, and the country was hit on Wednesday night by violent hail storms and gusts of wind, particularly in the north.
Seven people, including six foreign tourists, are killed and 100 others injured during a violent storm that swept across Thessaloniki, Greece.