ATHENS 11 Jul (ANA) - Six tourists have been killed and at least 30 other people injured in a violent storm that swept across a region of northern Greece.

 

Gale-force winds, heavy rain and hailstorms lashed Halkidiki, near the city of Thessaloniki, late on Wednesday, officials say.

 

A Czech couple died when their caravan was blown away, and two Romanians and two Russians were also killed.

 

A state of emergency was declared and more than 100 rescue workers deployed.

 

Charalambos Steriadis, head of civil protection in northern Greece, described it as an "unprecedented phenomenon".

 

The storm followed a spell of very hot weather in Greece with temperatures soaring to 37C (98F) over the past two days.

 

Images and video posted on social media show trees toppled, cars overturned and buildings damaged.

 

Emily Kishtoo, from Surrey in the UK, was at a beach party with her family when the storm hit on Wednesday night.

 

"It literally came out of nowhere," she told the BBC.

 

"The lights cut out on the beach that we were in - it was chaos. People running, screaming and just trying to basically get off the beach."(ANA)

FA/ANA/11 July 2019----