Seven die in severe storm in Chalkidiki; officials surveying infrastructure damage

Seven people, including two children, were killed as a result of the extreme weather conditions that struck Chalkidiki.
An eight-year-old boy and a 54-year-old woman from Romania were killed when the roof of a restaurant where they were dining collapsed as a result of fierce gale-force winds, rain and hailstorms that struck in the area.
Earlier, two elderly Czech tourists were killed when strong winds and water swept away their travel trailer.
Two more deaths were recorded in Nea Potidea, where a tree fell on a 39-year-old Russian and his son, about two years old, living in a hotel in the area.
Later on Thursday, a body found by the Coast Guard was identified as belonging to a Greek fisherman, 62, who went missing during the storm.
With the prime minister constantly briefed on developments and authorities rushing to assess damage and restore services, reports of injuries and infrastructure damage keep coming in.
26 hospitalised, including five children
The hospital of Poligiros, the "Papanikolaou" and "Gennimatas" hospitals and the Health Center of Moudania have examined a total of 120 individuals following the severe storm, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday afternoon, confirming the death of six of these.
The injured and the dead were transferred to hospitals either privately or through the EKAB emergency ambulance services.
Of the 120, nine are hospitalised in Papanikolaou Hospital in Thessaloniki (one of them, a woman, in the intensive care unit); 12 are in the Poligiros hospital on Chalkidiki; and five children are at Gennimatas with light injuries.
All hospitals and health centers in northern Greece have been placed under alert for first aid.
Coordinating all hospital-related actions is Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, in collaboration with the National Center of Health Operations (EKEPI) and Civil Protection.
Power outages
The environment and energy ministry is sending a number of 15W power generators to Chalkidiki, which has seen power outages after Wednesday's severe storm. These are expected to be set up and running by Thursday night, ministry sources said.
They added that more will be transported to northern Greece and set up by Friday morning.
The ministry is coordinating actions to bring back the power to the peninsula, until the restoration of services which authorities said will be fully back by Saturday.
Approximately 80 percent of the prefecture in Chalkidiki has been without power since Wednesday's storm, according to Macedonia-Thrace's Hellenic Electricity Distributor Network Operator (HEDNO) chief Ioannis Amanatidis.
Dozens of workers were on the site to restore the damage in the electricity distribution network. "There is terrible destruction. We have a series of broken electricity poles. We want to track down all damaged items in order to get them replaced," Amanatidis said, adding: "We aim to have restored electricity in 70 pct of the region by the evening. We will start from the urban clusters, cities and towns."
Train service restored
All railway schedules between Thessaloniki and Alexandroupoli in northern Greece have been restored after they were suspended as a result of the storm, TrainOSE said on Thursday.
Earlier, authorities had reported that the Xanthi-Alexandroupoli railway line was out of service due to flooding in the area.