Two teenage Australian schoolgirls were crushed to death by a falling tree during a severe storm that swept across Sydney today, police said.
The worst-hit area was in Sydney's north, where a group of 40 students were camping. The two girls, aged 15, were killed when a tree snapped in half and fell on their tent, police said.
The fierce electrical and rain storm, with wind gusts around 170 kmh, ripped roofs off houses and a hospital, forcing an intensive care ward to be evacuated.
The storm lasted only about an hour but left about 50,000 homes without electricity. Several people were trapped in cars by uprooted trees and a young girl had to be rescued after being swept down a drain.