Popular German national park closed after one killed by storm

Germany's popular Saxon Switzerland national park was closed to visitors on Saturday due to damages caused by a storm that killed one person overnight.

The park, located in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains on the Czech border, is characterized by towering, unusual rock formations.

The park's best known landmark is the Bastei, a group of jagged rocks linked by an arched sandstone bridge towering some 200 metres above the Elbe river.

The areas between the Bastei, the villages of Rathen and Hohnstein and the Polenztal valley have been closed to visitors following last night's storm, according to state-run forestry agency Sachsenforst.

The storm has uprooted a number of trees near the Bastei, the agency said, noting there was a continuing risk to visitors.

A 38-year-old man lost his life near the Felsenbühne open-air theatre in Rathen when a falling tree struck him on Friday evening. 

Ten other people were injured, including three seriously, and 40 people were evacuated.

Emergency services resumed clean-up efforts on Saturday morning.