Powerful thunderstorms, heavy winds leave at least 8 dead in France, Italy

Violent thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds left at least eight people dead in France and Italy on Thursday, uprooting trees in Tuscany and on the French island of Corsica, and ripping away shards of brick from the bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. Over 100 boats in the Mediterranean Sea called for emergency help, authorities said.

The storm produced gusts of more than 220 km/h in some areas, the national weather agency Meteo France said. About 45,000 households were without power on Corsica, where six people were killed. Dozens of people were injured and 12 were hospitalized, one in critical condition, authorities there said.

The Italian regions of Tuscany and Veneto both declared a state of emergency, as the violent storms in the north contrasted with scorching temperatures that were up to 43 C in southern Italy.

Storms in recent days have slammed Western European countries after a summer of extreme weather, while neighbouring countries in Central and Eastern Europe are still suffering exceptional heat waves and drought.

Two people were killed Thursday in separate incidents in Tuscany when trees were ripped up by storms. One was near the city of Lucca and another was near Carrara, where four people also were hurt by falling trees at a campground near that city.

In Venice, high winds detached pieces of brick from the bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica, which stands in front of the famed cathedral. Tourists were evacuated from the structure, which was cordoned off. The storm upended chairs and tables in St. Mark's Square and elsewhere, and swept away beach chairs on the nearby Lido.

The winds rose suddenly yet were calm within about five minutes, Carlo Alberto Tesserin, the caretaker of the basilica and bell tower, told The Associated Press.

"These were not usual winds for us," Tesserin said.

In another part of northern Italy, an overnight storm forced a train line southeast of Genoa to shut down after high winds carried beach structures onto the tracks, damaging the electrical circuitry.

The storm struck during Italy's busiest beach vacation week. The mayor of Sestri Levante, Valentina Ghio, appealed to visitors to stay away from beaches until the severe weather had passed.

Walnut-sized hail pummeled Italy's Liguria region with enough force to break the windows of homes and damage orchards and gardens.

Northern Italy has suffered its worst drought in decades this year, but the heavy rains in recent days have brought scattered hailstorms, whirlwinds and flooding that have damaged or destroyed entire crops of fruits and vegetables, along with vineyards and olive orchards, according to the Italian agricultural lobby Coldiretti.

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 the roof of a beach restaurant fell on her vehicle in Coggia, and a 46-year-old man died at a campsite in Calvi.

Rescue crews found the bodies of a 62-year-old fisherman and an unidentified kayaker off Corsica's coasts, according to the French maritime authority for the Mediterranean. The authority 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. A sixth victim was reported late Thursday.