Three killed in storms in south of France

Three people were killed in the storms that lashed southern France over the past thee days, the Interior Ministry has revealed in a short statement.

"Over the past three days, particularly intense storms have struck the south of France, causing three deaths and major damage," the announcement said, adding only that the three victims were inhabitants of the Hérault, Gard and Pyrénées-Orientales.

It added that more than 2,000 rescue workers had been mobilised to help the region get through the extreme weather, and that they had made a total of 1,773 interventions.

One of the victims was a woman who was carried away by the water on Wednesday in Cazouls-d'Hérault in the Hérault department, gendarmes told France 3 and France Bleu Hérault.

Contacted by France Bleu, the mayor of the town said "in front of her house, it was a torrent".

In their statement, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner and Secretary of State Laurent Nunez also called for "the procedure for recognising a state of natural disaster for the municipalities concerned to be accelerated".