Madrid, Europe Brief News – A 20-month-old child has died in Spain after being struck on the head by a hailstone.
About 50 other people reported injuries – ranging from bruises to bone fractures – from the freak 10-minute-long storm that hit the Girona region of Catalonia on Tuesday evening.
It destroyed roofs, downed power cables and shattered windows.
One of the hailstones measured 10cm (4 inches) in diameter, Catalonia’s meteorological service said.
It the largest to rain down on the region since 2002.
One of the stones hit the 20-month-old child who was transferred to a hospital in the nearby city of Girona but later died from her injuries, local channel 324 reported.
“The hail only fell for 10 minutes, but it was 10 minutes of terror,” councillor Carme Vall told local radio, according to AFP news agency.
Catalonia’s president Pere Aragones described the accident as a “tragedy”.
Local officials have now reissued violent weather alerts, warning residents that more large hailstones could rain down on the coastal area.
According to advice from Catalonia’s meteorological service, hailstorms can occur throughout the year but are most frequently recorded between March and September.
An unusually hot summer has meant the nearby Mediterranean sea is warmer than usual for this time of year, making violent tropical storms more likely.
