Tornado kills one, injures four near Paris

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This handout photograph taken and released on October 20, 2025 by the Syndicat Alliance Police Nationale (National Police Alliance Union) shows a collapsed crane which fell during high winds in Ermont, Val-d'Oise, on October 20, 2025. One person was killed and four others were seriously injured on October 20, 2025 during a violent wind event in Ermont, Val-d'Oise, the prefecture told AFP, without specifying the circumstances of the deaths. "One person has died, four are in critical condition, and five are in relative condition," the prefecture said during which "cranes fell and roofs were torn off." Eighty firefighters, 50 police officers, and 20 members of the SAMU (emergency medical service) were mobilized to the scene, according to the same source. (Photo by Handout / Syndicat Alliance Police Nationale / AFP)

A collapsed crane which fell during high winds in Ermont, Val-d'Oise, on Oct 20.

PHOTO: AFP

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Cergy-Pontoise, France - A tornado tore through districts north of Paris on Oct 20, toppling three construction cranes that killed one person and left four others with critical injuries, authorities said.

The town of Ermont, about 20km northeast of Paris was worst hit by the sudden twister that caused damage across about 10 districts.

Regional prosecutor Guirec Le Bras told AFP one 23-year-old construction worker was killed on a building site and 10 people had been injured with four in critical condition.

The tornado toppled cranes and tore off building roofs, authorities said. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on the X platform that it had been a storm of “rare intensity”.

Videos shared on social media showed three cranes falling within seconds of each other.

One crane fell on a clinic, without causing injuries, and another on a residential building. Scores of firefighters, police and medical personnel were at the scene, authorities said. AFP

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