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Three people killed in France's thunderstorm

PARIS, Aug 18 (KUNA) -- Three people died due to a thunderstorm that hit southeast France, leaving 12 injured, in addition to 45,000 homes without electricity, French authorities said Thursday.
BFM TV news channel said that those killed on Corsica island, a major tourist destination, included a 13-year-old girl who died when a tree fell on the campsite where she was staying and a 72-year-old woman whose car was struck by a beach hut roof in the Coggia area.
An orange storm alert was issued regarding the dangers of thunderstorms in Corsica after violent weather swept the island.
Meteo France, a French weather forecaster, confirmed that "the very strong thunderstorms that generated hail and very violent winds in the early morning over Corsica have moved away from the island are now heading towards the Gulf of Genoa." French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone with the President of the Corsican Executive Council Gilles Simeoni to show all his support after the vicious weather that hit the island, according to BFM news channel.
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, through her account on the social networking site Twitter, said that her thoughts go out to the victims, their loved ones and the entire population hit hard by the bad weather in Corsica, underlining that everything is done to help the victims.
Similarly, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that he gives all his support to the Corsicans who faced violent storms, with gusts of wind at more than 200 kilometers per hour.
The minister confirmed that he will be at Corsica today afternoon.
Yesterday, Wednesday, the French authorities warned of thunderstorms that might strike several areas in the south and east of the country, where some areas could get up to 40-60 millimeters of rain. (end) ma.lr