PARIS (Reuters) -A worker was killed in France’s northwest region of Brittany while repairing damage to the electricity network caused by Storm Ciaran, which has claimed two other lives in the country.
The exact circumstances of the accident are not yet known, energy distribution network operator Enedis said in a statement.
On Sunday afternoon, 247,000 French households were without electricity due to Storms Ciaran and Domingos, Enedis said.
Storm Ciaran was driven by a powerful jet stream that swept in from the Atlantic, unleashing heavy rain and furious winds that have caused flooding in several Western European countries.
Storm Domingos hit the west coast of France overnight.
“My condolences to their family, loved ones and all their colleagues touched by this drama. The energy sector is in mourning,” Agnes Pannier-Runacher, France’s energy minister, said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday.
The worker was sent as back up from the Midi-Pyrenees region, the minister said, and was one of 3,400 Enedis staff who have been mobilised to deal with the damage caused by the storms.
In addition to the three deaths, nine people have been seriously injured due to the two storms, the French interior ministry said. Buildings have had their roofs torn off and have been impacted by flooding and falling trees, it added.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Conor Humphries and Alexander Smith)
