Violent thunderstorm kills 7 in Moscow

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

The Russian Investigative Committee has confirmed the death of six people. “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 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 in the city’s center.