Toll rises from deadly storm as German trains resume service
BERLIN: Trains on Germany’s intercity lines resumed running early Friday, a day after being suspended when violent gales battered northern Europe, as the toll of the deadly storm rose to eight in the country.
Two more people were reported killed in the worst storm to strike Germany in a decade, adding to an earlier toll of six which included two firefighters deployed to attend to emergencies.
A 64-year- old man fell eight metres while he was working to secure the roof of a house. He later died in hospital, police from the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt said.
Another man, 34, also succumbed to his injuries after he was crushed by a falling tree, added police.
The huge storm caused another three deaths elsewhere in northern Europe and left air and rail traffic in chaos.
In southern Germany, the highspeed ICE trains were running as normal on Friday morning, although the service in the rest of the country remained subject to major disruptions, rail operator Deutsche Bahn said.
The company had on Thursday suspended all high-speed services due to storm Friederike in the first such stoppage since 2007 when major gales battered the country.
By the end of the morning, trains should be running to all the main cities, Deutsche Bahn said, with the service expected to be back to normal by the weekend.
Regional train services were also disrupted on Friday, particularly in North Rhine- Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state.
Hundreds of rail staff worked through the night to clear the tracks of branches and trees.
Many trees were uprooted by the force of the storm which saw winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour while others worked to repair damage to the lines, it said.
Meanwhile, baby Anton was born during the storm in his parents’ car in the western city of Cologne as traffic chaos unleashed by the extreme weather stopped them from getting to the clinic in time. — AFP