Four killed in German flash floods: Towns devastated as raging floodwater flattens houses and sweeps away cars after storms cause rivers to burst their banks
Simon Tomlinson
- Man in his 60s drowns in underground car park when it filled with water too quickly for him to be able to escape
- A firefighter was killed as he tried to rescue another person caught in a flooded railway station who then also died
- A 13-year-old girl died after being hit by train while apparently seeking shelter from the storm under railway bridge
- 7,000 firefighters, police officers and rescue workers were called out to 2,200 incidents in one German state alone
At least four people including a young girl have died after flash floods and hail storms wreaked havoc across Germany, destroying houses and sweeping away cars.
One man aged around 60 drowned in an underground car park when it filled with water too quickly for him to be able to escape in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
In the town of Schwaebisch Gmuend, a firefighter was killed as he tried to rescue another person in a flooded railway station who then also died.
Elsewhere in Baden-Wuerttemberg, police said a 13-year-old girl was killed after being hit by an intercity train while apparently seeking shelter from the storm under a railway bridge.
The flooding is the latest fallout from a severe storm that hit much of Germany and Europe over the weekend, with a series of lightning strikes leaving one dead and dozens injured across the continent.
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Trail of destruction: Debris and rubble can be seen piled up in a residential street after heavy storms hit the German town of Braunsbach