Baby dead, dozens injured after violent hailstorm in Spain

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - A 20-month-old baby died and dozens of people were injured after a violent hailstorm battered a town in Girona, Spain, local officials said on Wednesday.

Speaking to Catalan broadcaster TV3, officials said that the little girl was struck in the head by large hailstones and died overnight.

Around 30 people were treated for minor injuries, and one woman remains in hospital after the violent storm Tuesday night.

"It just rained hail bombs in La Bisbal d'Emporda," wrote local resident and author Irene Mellado on Twitter." It has broken almost every car or motorcycle window; pierced through roofs, tables, chairs, broken lamposts and injured people... The sirens of ambulances, police cars and fire trucks are constant. Terrifying."

Overnight, Catalan firefighters said they responded to 39 calls in the town of La Bisbal d'Emporda and two in neighboring Forallac due to damage to buildings and electrical wiring.

During the storm, hailstones larger than 10 centimeters (4 inches) poured from the sky. According to Catalonia's meteorological agency SMC, Catalonia has not seen hail that size since 2002.

The intense storm came on the heels of a summer of intense heat that has left Spain's Mediterranean waters much hotter than usual.

Girona, along with much of northeastern Spain, remains under an advisory for storms on Wednesday.