BERLIN - At least five people died and several were injured Sunday as high winds knocked down trees, left homes without electricity and caused widespread travel chaos across much of Central Europe.

Authorities were meanwhile watching for oil leaks from a huge freighter that ran aground in the North Sea.

The Glory Amsterdam, a 225-meter long vessel, foundered on the German island of Langeoog. The ship's crew of 22 were safe, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

The freighter was not carrying any cargo, but had 1,800 tons of heavy oil and 140 tons of marine diesel on board as fuel, it quoted local authorities as saying.

Two people died in Poland as a result of the heavy winds, including a man who drove his car into a tree that had been knocked down by the storm, fire department spokesman Pawel Fratczak said. The second man was killed when a tree fell on his car in southwestern Poland, while his passenger was hospitalized, Polish media reported.

Two people were killed in the Czech Republic when they were hit by falling trees, local Television reported.

A 63-year-old camper drowned in the Jadebusen river in Lower Saxony in Germany, when he was swept away in a flash flood, the German news agency dpa reported. In Berlin, one man was severely injured by roof tiles falling from a building, another one was injured when hit by scaffolding torn off a home and four more were injured in storm-related incidents across the country.

Storm Herwart, whose wind gusts reached 180 kilometers, caused blackouts in hundreds of thousands of homes in the Czech Republic, Austria and other countries.

Train connections in several German northern states were shut down, including links to and from Berlin, because of the danger from branches on the tracks. Germany rail company Deutsche Bahn opened stationary trains to travelers left stranded by cancellations.

In the northern city of Hamburg, the Elbe river flooded a parking garage, the city's famous fish market and several streets.

AP - Reuters

(China Daily 10/31/2017 page12)