9 dead in eastern Australia after severe thunderstorms

At least nine people have died in wild weather in the Australian eastern states of Queensland and Victoria, officials said on Wednesday.

Three men were killed after a boat with 11 people aboard capsized in rough weather in Moreton Bay off the south Queensland coast on Tuesday, police said.

Ambulances took the eight survivors to hospital in stable conditions.

A 59-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree at the Queensland city of Gold Coast on Monday night. The body of a 9-year-old girl was found on Tuesday in the neighboring city of Brisbane hours after she disappeared in a flooded stormwater drain.

The bodies of a 40-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman were found in the Mary River in the Queensland town of Gympie. They were among three women swept into the flooded river through a stormwayter drain on Tuesday. Another 46-year-old woman managed to save herself. Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll blamed “extraordinarily difficult weather” for the tragedies.

“It has been a very tragic 24 hours due to the weather,” Carroll told reporters.

Severe weather has lashed parts of southeast Australia since Monday including Queensland and Victoria.

A woman, who is yet to be identified, was found dead late Tuesday after flash flooding receded at a camp ground at Buchan in regional Victoria.

Earlier on Tuesday, a 44-year-old man was killed by a falling branch at his rural property at Caringal in eastern Victoria.

Thunderstorms and strong winds have brought down more than 1,000 power lines in parts of Queensland and left 85,000 people without electricity.