Storm in Sweden leaves 3 dead

updated 10:49 p.m. ET Jan. 14, 2007

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Falling trees killed at least three people as hurricane-strength winds whipped across southwestern Sweden on Sunday, leaving more than 260,000 households without power.

Winds of up to 84 mph also caused major disruptions in train and boat traffic across Scandinavia, and police in Norway and Sweden urged people to stay indoors to avoid what was described as the biggest storm in two years.

Police said a 9-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree in Motala, about 150 miles southwest of Stockholm. A 60-year-old man in the city of Jonkoping and a 25-year-old man in Ullared, near the southwestern coast, also died when their vehicles were struck by trees.

The bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark was temporarily shut to all traffic, while nearly all train departures in southern Sweden and parts of Norway were canceled, as the strong winds felled trees across the tracks in several places.

The central train station in Sweden's second-largest city, Goteborg, was left without power, and several ferry lines between Denmark, Norway and Sweden were canceled, officials said.

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