Tornado leaves southern France village in ruins

A tornado ravages a small village in southern France, leaving 39 injured

and the area in ruins.

According to Meteo-France, the national weather agency, a few dozen

tornadoes occur each year in mainland France,

but most of them are low intensity with few causing serious destruction.

Authorities say among those injured, two are in critical condition.

Some 300 homes were damaged in the village of 1,000 inhabitants, reducing

homes to rubble and destroying numerous cars.

The region was under a thunderstorm alert at the time and wind

gusts exceeding 100 kilometres per hour were recorded at a nearby

meteorological station.

The third stage of the Vuelta a Espana bike race, which was held in

southern France on Monday, was halted because of hail.