Storm kills woman tourist on Lake Geneva

After a sunny start, participants at the Bol d'Or regatta had to content with the storm during the final leg of the race. © Keystone/ Valentin Flauraud

A woman has died while boating on Lake Geneva on Saturday afternoon due to a violent storm that hit the region.

Severe thunderstorms hit French-speaking Switzerland late Saturday afternoon, particularly in Geneva. Rain, along with hail, fell in large quantities and was accompanied by violent gusts.

A woman on a pleasure boat died during the storm when it sank off the coast of the port of La Belotte, in Vésenaz. The damage was apparently caused by the violent storms, the Geneva cantonal police reported in the evening.

A man who was on the same boat, managed to swim to the port and raise an alert by launching emergency flares. Three police and fire boats arrived on the scene. The woman was found in the water not far from the harbour by the rescuers. She was immediately transported by the REGA helicopter service to the hospital in Geneva, where the police reported her death.

L’orage de grêle frappe Genève#geneve#suisse#nature#orage pic.twitter.com/YnQ3iMFTVgExternal link

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The storm caused serious damage in the Geneva region with the fire and rescue services overwhelmed by calls concerning fallen trees, flooding and boat mishaps. They had to respond to over 500 incidents. The Geneva Museum of Art and History suffered water infiltration and will remain closed today.

In neighbouring French territory of Haute-Savoie, a 51-year-old German tourist died. She was crushed by a tree falling on her camper van, uprooted around 5pm by the storm.