¡¡¡¡BERLIN, July 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Seven people, including two children, were killed and 26 others injured when a thunderstorm and high winds lashed Berlin and its surrounding areas overnight, the local press reported Thursday.

¡¡¡¡Falling trees were to blame for many of the deaths and injuries,which included two children camping on an island in Wannsee Lake in Berlin.

¡¡¡¡Two people in Berlin and three in Branderburg were also killed by falling trees or debris.

¡¡¡¡In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, electricity supply to households of more than 90,000 people were cut by falling trees and branches.

¡¡¡¡About 1,500 trees were reported to have been brought down in Berlin alone.

¡¡¡¡Besides Berlin and neighboring Brandenburg state, other states like Mecklenburg-Vorpomern, Sachsen-Anhalt, Niedersachsen,Sachsen,Thueringen and Bavaria were also hit by the storm.

¡¡¡¡The storm, with high winds of 152 kilometers per hour, is the worst in 30 years, and 1,500 police, firefighters and emergency aid workers were mobilized to combat the disaster.

¡¡¡¡Berlin's main Tegel Airport was temporarily closed during the storm, and a Swiss Airline plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a former Soviet airfield at Werneuchen in the eastern part of the city. Enditem