Authorities in Austria said Tuesday that two young boys have died from carbon monoxide poisoning and their mother is fighting for her life after the family used an emergency generator during a power outage.
Upper Austria police said they were called Monday to a house in the town of Lasberg where three seriously ill people were reported to be in the basement.
First responders found high levels of carbon monoxide - a toxic, odorless gas that can accumulate in unventilated rooms - and rushed the boys , ages 5 and 2, and their 32-year-old mother to nearby hospitals.
“In the evening, it transpired that both children had sadly died,” police said in a statement, adding that the mother remained in “extremely critical condition.”
The heavy storm that caused the power outage also caused injuries and damage in Switzerland and Italy on Monday..
In Switzerland, police said falling branches killed a 6-month-old baby and injured three other people.
On the other side of the Alps, a violent hailstorm in northern Italy brought part of the highway between Milan and Naples to a brief standstill
Videos broadcast by Italian weather channel Meteo Weather 24 showed dozens of cars with large dents and smashed windscreens.
Several people were hurt, mainly by glass shards from cracked windscreens. No one is believed to have been seriously injured.
Storms have caused scores of deaths and widespread damage in Europe this month. Heavy flooding in western Germany and neighboring Belgium claimed more than 210 lives two weeks ago.
