Five dead as storms ravage Poland

Five people including two Girl Guides at a campground died in freak accidents early today when violent storms hit Poland amid a heatwave, the fire brigade and police said.

The two girls, aged 13 and 14, were crushed by falling trees while sleeping in a tent and around 20 other children were injured when a freak storm hit the campground for Boy Scouts and Girl Guides with 140 youngsters in the northern village of Suszek.

A woman died when a tree hit her house in the northern village of Konarzyny while a man sleeping in a tent in a nearby village also perished after being hit by tree brought down by high winds.
 

Authorities in the same region also confirmed the death of a fifth victim, a 48-year-old man, crushed by a tree.

A total of 28 people were reported injured while power was cut to around half a million homes and businesses as violent winds downed trees and ripped off roofs in northern and southern regions.

An unusual heatwave saw peak temperatures soar to the high-thirties Celsius (around 100 Farenheit) across Poland in recent days, but milder weather is expected this weekend when the mercury is forecast to dip to the mid-twenties in most regions.