Tornado kills Indian in Italy

Rome, Nov 7 (IANS/AKI) An Indian and an Italian were killed in a tornado on the outskirts of Rome that uprooted trees, overturned cars and damaged buildings, officials said on Monday.

Homeless farm labourer Surinder Singh was killed in the Lazio coastal town of Ladispoli by a piece of masonry that was blown off an apartment building.

Singh, 47 did not regain consciousness and died of massive head injuries on his way to hospital in an ambulance.

The tornado claimed a second victim in the town of Cesano, north of Rome, where an uprooted tree fell onto a garage, crushing to death 74-year-old former soldier Fernando Fiorese inside his car.

A 25-year-old man in Ladispoli was hospitalised in a critical condition after the tornado blew him off his feet and hurled him against a large plate glass shop window, causing it to shatter.

A total of 22 people were injured in the tornado, which struck late Sunday, causing the Rome-Civitavecchia train service to be suspended and a section of the Aurelia state highway to be closed.

Schools were closed on Monday to allow checks to be carried out on the buildings and a clean-up operation was underway in Ladispoli and other locations hit by the whirlwind.

More violent storms were forecast in southern Italy on Monday and authorities issued a flood alert in the central city of Florence, where the River Arno was at risk of bursting its banks after heavy rainfall.

--IANS/AKI

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