Windstorm kills two in Austrian capital

VIENNA, June 21 (Reuters) A sudden windstorm mixed with heavy rain toppled a construction crane and numerous trees in Vienna today, killing two people and injuring others, officials in the Austrian capital said.

Traffic at Vienna's Schwechat international airport had to be suspended for an hour because of high winds and lightning, and long delays were expected to stretch well into the night, Austrian news agency APA reported.

A crane operator was killed when his rig crashed during high winds onto the roof of Vienna's fire department headquarters, a department spokesman said. No one in the building was injured.

A falling tree killed a 60-year-old woman and seriously injured a man on the premises of a rowing club near the Danube River, APA reported.

The storm, which included hail in some areas, also stalled some regional train services, caused power outages and many traffic accidents, and forced cancellation of a Barbra Streisand concert at Vienna's baroque Schoenbrunn castle.

Rescue workers reported overturned trees blocking roads, roofs torn off houses and flooded homes elsewhere in the Alpine republic during the storm, which broke a heat wave that put temperatures up to 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).

REUTERS DS BST0025