- A woman was killed and two bystanders injured when the tree fell on Thursday
- Prosecutors are now investigating whether the tree had been properly secured
This is the horrifying moment a woman at a Christmas market in Belgium was crushed to death by a toppling five-ton Christmas tree.
Shocking CCTV footage shows the 65ft (20-metre) tree near a carousel falling in the historic town square in the city of Oudenaarde late on Thursday.
A 63-year-old woman from the city was killed and two others 'lightly injured' when strong winds blew it down, local officials confirmed today.
'Gusts of wind and the heavy rain made sure that the tree collapsed,' Mayor Marnic De Meulemeester said. The Christmas market was immediately cancelled.
An investigation will now 'focus on whether the tree had been properly secured and will also look at the impact of the weather,' a spokesperson for the Oost-Vlaanderen province prosecutor said.
Storm Pia, which disrupted traffic in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on Thursday, hit western Belgium last night prompting the weather service to issue a yellow code warning for the coastal areas.
Security camera footage showed the moment the tree toppled in the Belgian market Thursday
The tree is seen next to a carousel falling in the historic town square yesterday evening
A woman was killed and two left with light injuries when the tree fell suddenly, officials said
The tragedy occurred around 7pm on Thursday, Protothema reported today.
'There was a gust of wind and suddenly the tree fell,' eyewitness Frederic Verkursh said.
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'A nurse who was present coordinated us until the paramedics arrived. Some lifted the top of the tree and some others went under to pull out the trapped. One woman was injured in the leg, one in the arm and the third was in a very serious condition.'
Problems with the tree's installation had prompted the local authority to strengthen it last month, the outlet reported.
Elsewhere, in the Netherlands, a woman was reportedly seriously injured Thursday by a falling tree in the eastern town of Wilp.
Streets around harbours also flooded overnight in some North Sea towns including Scheveningen, the seaside suburb of The Hague.
The huge Maeslantkering storm barrier that protects Rotterdam from high sea levels automatically closed for the first time because of high water levels - meaning that all six major storm barriers that protect the low-lying Netherlands were closed at the same time.
The nation's water and infrastructure authority said that was also a first. By Friday morning, all six barriers were open again as winds eased.
In London, Euston station was closed yesterday amid major travel chaos after 113mph Storm Pia swept in and ruined the Christmas getaway.
Euston was shut to arriving passengers as crowds built up, with all Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains services cancelled because of damage to the overhead electric wires in two separate sections - one between Watford Junction and London Euston and the other, a bag caught in cables between Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe.
One passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, described the chaos to MailOnline this morning: 'There seemed to be thousands of people bumping chaotically into each other, whilst the staff were blasting announcements nobody could really hear through the speakers.
'Then it spilled to Marylebone, where one could allegedly take an alternative route. But that was a mistake too. Complete omnishambles. All because of wind?'
Passengers wait for updates after trains from London Euston station were cancelled
Overcrowding at St Pancras station Thursday as Eurostar cancels all trains in and out of London
German national railway operator Deutsche Bahn also said there were cancellations on routes from Hamburg and Hannover to Frankfurt and Munich due to the storm.
Long-distance services from Hamburg northward to Kiel and Flensburg were not running, among other disruptions.
The company said that falling trees damaged overhead electric wires or blocked tracks largely in northern Germany, but also in the central state of Hesse.
There were some delays late on Thursday evening at Frankfurt Airport, Germany's busiest, though there were no cancellations as a result of the storm, and the airport operator said that it was business as usual on Friday morning, the dpa news agency reported.
In Hamburg, the Elbe River flooded streets around the city's fish market, with water waist-high in places.
German authorities warned of a storm surge of up to 10ft or more above mean high tide on parts of the North Sea coast on Friday.
