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Raging thunderstorm strikes Moscow leaving seven dead, 69 injured — source

The thunderstorm blew down hundreds of trees in its path, damaging numerous vehicles in Moscow and its surrounding neighborhoods, causing commuter train delays and bringing traffic to a standstill

© Mikhail Pochuev/TASS

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. The death toll after Monday afternoon’s violent thunderstorms that hammered Moscow has left at least seven people dead and 69 injured, a source at the capital’s emergency services told TASS.

"According to medics, seven people were killed in various districts as trees and other objects were torn down," the source said.

Публикация от Аня Смит (@anyasm1th) Май 29 2017 в 5:59 PDT

The source said 69 people needed medical attention after the storm.

Публикация от alevtia_d (@alevtia_d) Май 29 2017 в 5:55 PDT

The Russian Investigative Committee has confirmed the death of six people.

Крыша вернись pic.twitter.com/0mKvhEGRcf
— Блогер Женя (@AnteUni) 29 May 2017

"Five people were killed by falling trees in Moscow’s northeast, southwest and eastern districts," Yulia Ivanova, a senior aide to the head of the committee’s Moscow office, told TASS. "Moreover, an elderly man was killed as a bus stop was torn off from its foundation by a powerful gust of wind in Moscow’s south."

She said that a preliminary probe had been opened into all incidents.

The thunderstorm blew down at least 1 000 trees in its path, damaging numerous vehicles in Moscow and its surrounding neighborhoods, causing commuter train delays and bringing traffic to a standstill in the city’s center.

Read also

Violent thunderstorm hits Moscow

A TASS correspondent reported that the violent storm sent several tall pine trees crashing down on Gorki, the residence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev who hosted a cabinet meeting earlier on Monday.

The storm also damaged the roof of the Russian Interior Ministry’s headquarters in central Moscow.

According to Flightradar24.com, more than 50% of airline departures were grounded at Moscow’s airports due to the downpour and gale-force winds.

The storm wreaked havoc as it tore through Moscow, leaving a 44-meter pyramid built by engineer Alexander Golod in 1999, some 20 kilometers to the west of the capital, completely in ruins.

Roman Vilfand, the head of the Russian Hydrometeorological Center, told TASS that the wind force in Moscow had reached 28 meters per second during the peak of the thunderstorm.

He warned that a new storm could strike Moscow on Monday evening and even at night.

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