SOFIA - Four people were killed by lightning in Bulgaria this weekend and three died in Romania as violent storms lashed parts of southeast Europe.
According to Bulgarian radio a couple and a man were killed by lightning strikes in two separate incidents in the south of the country and a fourth man also died after being hit by lightning in the east of the country while repairing his roof.
On Sunday heavy rainfall cut the railway to the Black Sea port of Varna and a dam in the north overflowed, drowning animals, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.
In Romania, a woman of 54 was drowned after heavy rains battered the south of the country and her 18-month-old grandson was missing, probably swept away by flood waters.
About 650 people had to be evacuated when a dam broke and dozens of houses were damaged.
Two coal miners were killed by lightning strikes in the southwest and two others injured.
The downpours damaged 1,700 houses, according to the interior ministry, and cut roads in many places.
Two helicopters and hundreds of troops and police have been mobilised to rescue people stranded by floodwaters.
07/03/2005 16:08 GMT