Two killed, more injured as strong winds hit Central Europe

BRATISLAVA: Two people were killed and several others were injured Monday when strong winds uprooted trees in Central Europe, officials said, as the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia issued weather warnings.

"Strong wind caused a tree to fall on primary school pupils on a pavement in Nitra" near Bratislava, Slovak police said on their Facebook page.

"A 14-year-old boy died on the spot" and "several others" were injured, one seriously, they added.

In Poland, one person died and two others were injured when a tree fell on a car in the southern village of Nowy Nart, firefighters told the Polish news agency PAP. Five others were injured elsewhere.

In the Czech Republic, a driver escaped with injuries after a tree fell on his truck.

Howling winds caused power outages for some 30,000 households in the Czech Republic and 11,000 households in central Slovakia, as well as for thousands in Poland.

Slovak authorities issued wind warnings for the whole country, including a hurricane-force alert for the northern High Tatras mountain region where wind speeds could reach 135 kilometres (84 miles) per hour.

At Prague airport, two flights were redirected and a dozen had to wait up to an hour for landing because of the weather.