Berlin: A rare tornado injured 19 people, two of them severely, in Luxembourg, while 15 soccer players were injured by a lightning strike in southern Germany as unseasonal storms hit northern Europe late Friday.
The tornado in the southwestern Luxembourg communities of Pettingen and Kaerjeng left a path of destruction that made up to 100 homes uninhabitable, local media reported Saturday.
Debris and damaged cars were left strewn around the area, while at least four power poles were destroyed.
"Architects are going to come and survey the damage. Meanwhile, we will coordinate to cover the roofs," Paul Schroeder, director general of Luxembourg's fire and rescue service, told residents, according to Luxembourg French-language newspaper L'Essentiel.
In nearby eastern France the tornado was less severe, but local media there reported that dozens of roofs were destroyed and cars were damaged in the communities of Longwy and Herserange. Tornadoes are a very rare weather condition in Europe, which is more typically hit by gales.
