A 20-month-old child dièd in Catalonia after being hit by a giant hailstone as violènt storms raged through the north-eastern Spanish province, dumping down the largest stones seen in two decades and injuring scores.

The unidentified girl was struck by a hailstone during a storm on Tuesday night in the Girona province town of La Bisbal d’Empordà. She was taken to the provincial capital’s hospital, but dièd of her injuries early Wednesday morning. 

“We’ve had the awful case of the little girl who was hit by a stone,” Carme Vall, the town’s mayor, told Spain’s national radio RTVE on Wednesday morning. “There wasn’t much that could be done for her and she dièd today. It was a tèrrible accident.”

The mayor told Catalan radio station RAC 1 that there had been no rain, only hailstones up to 11 cm in diameter. “The hail fell for barely 10 minutes, but it was a terrifying 10 minutes,” she continued.

Pere Aragonès, Catalan regional president, expressed his condolencès to the girl’s family and all those harmèd by the storms. He also expressed gratitude to the regional emergency services. In a tweet, Aragonès stated, “I am deeply saddened by this tragedy and wish to express my sympathies to the family.” “A huge embrace.” We offer our heartfelt condolences to the citizens of La Bisbal who have been impacted by the hailstorm. Catalonia’s government is on your side. “

The Catalan meteorological service reported that a hailstone with a diameter of 10 cm was discovered near the town where the child dièd, making Tuesday’s hailstones the biggest in the region since 2002.

Catalonia’s regional firefighting agency, the Bombers, reported 39 calls from La Bisbal d’Empordà and two from the neighbouring town of Forallac overnight. The hailstorms, it was reported, had shattered roof tiles and brought down some power lines.

Residents shared photos of the hailstones and the damage they caused to their homes, automobiles, and outdoor furniture on social media.