Sharjah24 - AFP: A rare tornado tore through several Czech villages and towns, killing at least five people and injuring dozens, rescuers said Friday as they cleaned up the wreckage in the storm's aftermath one official described as a "living hell".
A retirement home and zoo were badly damaged after tennis-ball-sized hail battered a number of towns Thursday evening, also causing extensive power outages and traffic disruptions after a major motorway was blocked.
Retirement home residents in Hodonin city were moved to a nearby hotel, the city said on its Facebook page, while about 78,000 homes and offices were without power on Friday morning.
Video footage from the region on social networks showed destroyed buildings and cars, shorn tree stumps and several fires spewing thick black smoke.
Vineyards in the wine-making region were heavily damaged, along with a chateau in the UNESCO-listed town of Valtice. "It's a living hell," regional governor Jan Grolich said after seeing the widespread destruction. A local police spokesman confirmed that five people had been killed, while 63 of the injured were taken to hospital, 10 in serious condition. "There will be more," emergency services spokeswoman Hedvika Kropackova said, noting that more injured people were calling for help on Friday. The army was also deployed to help with search efforts, aided by Austrian and Slovak rescuers. Firefighters and a special rescue team had searched "99 percent" of the affected villages, and did not expect to find further casualties, Grolich said.
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