10 killed as falling tree crushes concert tent

At least 10 people were crushed to death and 85 injured when a huge tree was blown down during a freak storm in eastern France.

The victims were sheltering in a tent during an outdoor concert.

Families were enjoying the concert of Yiddish music in the forested grounds of the Chateau Pourtales in the suburbs of Strasbourg when the storm struck.

Six men and four women, all aged around 18, were killed.

Eighteen people were seriously injured and seven children were among those hurt.

About 120 people had been watching the concert when violent winds forced organisers to interrupt the show and ask spectators to take refuge in the tent.

But the wind increased and blew down the tree on top of them.

A young woman called Elizabeth said she just managed to leave in time.

‘‘It wasn’t even raining very hard,’’ said the woman. ‘‘Then suddenly the wind came. We heard branches crack, and someone said, ‘Get out of here.’

‘‘I was lucky. I got out, and then the tree fell.’’

Another survivor, concert singer Astrid Ruff, said: ‘‘A huge tree fell. And then everything just fell.’’

Rescuers cut through leafy, soaking branches to reach the injured.

Dazed concertgoers wandered aimlessly in the pouring rain, looking for friends, as firefighters hampered by the wet conditions pulled victims out on stretchers.

Most of those injured suffered neck and head trauma, according to police.

About 100 firefighters and 30 doctors were on the scene. Rescuers took the injured to hospitals in Strasbourg.

Michel Lafond, an official at a crisis centre hastily set up in Strasbourg, said: ‘‘People are calling us frantically. They are searching for their friends, their family members.’’

Organisers had apparently been given the go-ahead for the concert despite predictions of bad weather.

Last year, the European Centre for Yiddish Culture was established in Strasbourg, dedicated to reviving the language spoken by European Jewry before the Second World War.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin sent his condolences to the victims shortly after the accident.

Much of France was hit on Friday evening by strong winds and rain.

Earlier, a five-year-old girl was injured when a mudslide swept through her family’s apartment in Tulle in southwestern France as heavy rains hammered the region.

France’s national weather service had advised people to stay inside during the torrential rain, and to watch for falling trees.

Police said later six young men and four women were killed by the tree.

Many children were among those seriously injured at the event, described on French television as a Yiddish music concert.