Advertisement

15-year-old camper killed by falling tree amid severe storm

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
15-year-old camper killed by falling tree amid severe storm
The teenager's tent which was hit by a tree. Photo: DPA.

A 15-year-old boy was killed when a tree crashed onto his tent as hurricane-like storms swept through the Schwarzwald area early into Wednesday morning.

Advertisement

A teenager who had been camping outdoors died on Wednesday morning when a tree about 30 metres tall fell onto his tent during stormy weather with wind speeds in the area of up to 110 km/hour.

Three other people between the ages of 13 and 14 were also injured, one of them seriously. 

The 15-year-old boy who died was with a group of 16 other young people and four supervisors in the Waldshut district close to the Swiss border.

A police spokesman said that the the group had possibly gone on a hike and decided to camp in the area for the night, though only part of the group had been camping in tents while others had been in a shelter nearby.

The storm was “brief and violent,” according to commander of the local fire brigade Tobias Ücker.

The German Weather Service (DWD) had issued a large-scale storm warning for the state of Baden-Württemberg for Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

The warning was temporarily suspended around 11pm and resumed after midnight. And the winds were particularly violent between 2am and 3am, said a meteorologist.

Last week, much of central Germany was hit by heavy storms which led to serious flooding in some areas.

But according to DWD, stormy weather is not forecast for the rest of the week across most of the country up until the weekend, when showers may be seen in southern areas.

Forecast for Thursday:

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also