’10 minutes of terror’: Giant hailstones kill toddler in Spain
20-month-old girl fatally struck in the head, cars and windows smashed by hailstones that reach 4 inches in diameter
MADRID, Spain — A 20-month-old girl died after being hit by a hailstone during an intense storm in northeastern Spain, local officials said Wednesday.
The hailstone “fell on her head” and “she did not survive,” Carme Vall, a city councilor in the Catalan town of La Bisbal de l’Emporda, told radio RAC1.
“The hail only fell for 10 minutes, but it was 10 minutes of terror,” she said, adding that the hailstones that had fallen in the area were up to 11 centimeters (four inches) wide.
“Only hailstones were falling, hardly any rain.”
The toddler was rushed to the Josep Trueta Hospital in the nearby city of Girona but died overnight from her injuries, the hospital said in a statement.
Catalonia’s weather office said the hailstones that fell in the area near Spain’s border with France were the largest in 20 years.
En concret, el nostre observador de la XOM a la Bisbal d'Empordà (el Baix Empordà) ha registrat un diàmetre màxim de pedra de fins a uns 10 cm. pic.twitter.com/oCpUQlRKfL
— Meteocat (@meteocat) August 30, 2022
Images broadcast on Spanish television showed several cars with shattered windshields or dents in their roofs from the hailstones.
La meitat de cotxes de La Bisbal destrossats. Hola, soy Thanos de Carglass. pic.twitter.com/FyP9064kYq
— Margenet (@AmargenetOr) August 30, 2022
The stained glass windows of the town’s church were also shattered by the impact of the hailstones, photos released by the town hall showed.
Enormous hail in Catalonia
The size of the splashes as the ice hits the pool is insane.Large hailstones bombarded parts of #Spain on Tuesday. Definitely not a good day to be in the pool.
???? Bisbal d'Empordà,
???? Via : Twitter // MeteoGasso pic.twitter.com/5SFoXqpgbH— CS NOTICIAS COAHUILA (@CsNoticias_Coah) August 31, 2022
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