At least 3 people killed as powerful winter storm batters Germany

By Erbil Basay and Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - At least three people died and thousands of homes lost power when a powerful storm hit northern and eastern parts of Germany on Thursday.

Germany's National Meteorological Service, the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), said the storm, called Ylenia, reached wind speeds of over 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour) in the Harz Mountains in the northern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

A 37-year-old man was killed when his car was struck by a falling tree in the northeastern town of Uelzen, public broadcaster ARD reported.

A 55-year-old driver died in a traffic accident due to a fallen tree in Saxony-Anhalt.

Also, in the city of Osnabruck, the driver of a vehicle lost their life after colliding with a truck.

Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn canceled long-distance trains to and from northern states including Hamburg, Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein.

There will be disruptions in train services throughout the country until Feb. 19 due to the damage caused by the storm, the operator announced.

The storm also caused power outages in local areas in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Bavaria, leaving more than 80,000 people without power.