SEVERE WINDS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 46, 5 December 1949, Page 3

SEVERE WINDS

NORTHERN GERMANY SUFFERS SEVERAL DEATHS REPORTED CN.Z.P. A.—Copyright) (Rec. 9.30 a.m.) BERLIN, Dec. 4. Winds of over 70 miles an hour brought death and destruction to Northern Germany to-day, several people being crushed to death under falling debris of bombed buildings.

Rescue squads were this afternoon digging frantically to release people buried under ruins.

In Berlin, two people were killed and at least nine injured during the gale, and extensive damage was done. In Hamburg, hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes because of the danger of- collapse. No fewer than 130 ruined houses were, brought down, and the Hamburg Christmas fair, the largest in Germany, closed down and sent out calls for aid as scenic railways rocked. Tops were torn off merry-go-rounds and' tents housing sideshows were whirled away.

The new 400-foot-high mast of the Hamburg radio buckled and collapsed in the high wind. More than 100 ships sought shelter in the mouths of the Weser and Elbe Rivers. Shipping had had a good warning of the coming gale and no casualties at sea have been reported. A later message says that eight people were killed in the gale, and hundreds of others made homeless, says Reuter’s Hamburg correspondent. i

In Hamburg four were found dead under the rubble of collapsed houses and. 13 were taken to hospital with severe injuries. Seventy-four were given emergency huts after the 100-miles-an-hour gale smashed their houses.