In the worst incident, three died when a tree fell on a garden shed in Duesseldorf where they had sought shelter, emergency services said.

 

Cyclists were also killed by falling trees in Cologne and Krefeld and a sixth person died while clearing a street in Essen.

 

The storms ended a heatwave that lasted throughout the Whitsun weekend holiday.

 

Public transport was badly hit in much of North Rhine-Westphalia on Tuesday morning, and authorities urged people to avoid Duesseldorf, where trains, roads and the airport were all affected².

 

During the night, emergency services removed the bodies of three people from a garden shed in the city. Three other people who had taken refuge in the shed were injured, two of them seriously. Several others were hurt elsewhere in the city.

 

Two red pandas were reported missing from a zoo in Gelsenkirchen in the aftermath of the storm, with one since recovered and receiving medical assistance for shock, zoo officials said.

 

Local residents have been asked to notify the zoo if they spot the remaining missing panda.

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