Shocking moment huge wave smashes ferry window: 'Disaster movie'
Shocking footage has emerged of a massive wave smashing the front of a ferry’s passenger deck in Germany.
Storm Ylenia lashed Europe in the early hours of Thursday morning (local time), bringing 150km winds and causing widespread damage.
Schools closed and train services and flights were cancelled. It’s been reported that at least five people have been killed.
The wild weather forced passengers on one ferry in Hamburg to flee after a huge wave smashed the glass windows and flooded the deck with water.
Footage of the horrifying moment shows the wave plough into people sitting in the first few rows as stunned others grab their belongings and run.
Other videos taken by witnesses on land show the front end of the ferry dipping into the water as it struggles to battle the swells.
Authorities said the incident occurred as the ferry sailed across the Elbe.
Three of the commuters suffered minor injuries, according to local publications.
A 32-year-old suffered cuts but all were able to leave on foot and were treated by a doctor, NDR reports.
"It was an incident that we've never had before," Tobias Haack, managing director of the public transport company in Hamburg, said.
'A disaster movie'
Social media users have likened video of the accident — which has gone viral — to a horror movie.
“That's usually the sort of thing you expect to see in a disaster movie,” one man said.
“Dude in the first row had by far the most intense experience!” another person wrote.
The footage is so intense that some people questioned if it was fake.
“There shouldn’t be rogue waves on river Elbe,” someone said before authorities confirmed the incident.
More storms to lash Europe
Meteorologists warned Thursday that northern Europe could be battered by a series of storms over the coming days after strong winds swept across the region overnight.
Two motorists in Germany, one aged 37 and the other 55, were killed after trees fell onto their cars in Bad Bevensen, south of Hamburg.
A car passenger died near Osnabrueck after the vehicle’s trailer was blown into the path of a truck.
Two people also died in the Polish city of Krakow, where strong winds caused a construction crane to collapse.
#Sturm in #Hamburg So sah es von außen aus. pic.twitter.com/w1uYQz4oKH
— Oh je, BRD - Politik-Satire (@BRD_Satire) February 17, 2022
With AP
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