Death toll in freak storm that swept through Moscow rises to 16

Strong winds and torrential rain swept through Moscow on Monday evening leading to extreme weather conditions that reportedly killed 11 people in the city itself and some five others in the wider Moscow region, according to information provided by the Russian Investigative Committee and the Moscow regional governor.

The majority of the victims were thought to have been killed by falling trees.

The storm lasted several hours and uprooted thousands of trees in the region, blocked off traffic access in parts of the city and triggered power cuts.

Another 150 people were hospitalized during the extreme meteorological phenomenon, including 22 children, according to medical sources.

Some areas of Moscow registered 30mm (over an inch) of rainfall in a short space of time, which amounts to 60 percent more than the capital's monthly average.

Moscow's mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, offered his condolences to affected families with a message on Twitter, assuring that the necessary measures would be set in place to mitigate the havoc wrought by the natural disaster.

Hurricane force winds have cut electricity supplies to some 18,300 in the Russian capital and meteorologists have warned that unstable weather was forecast to persist in Moscow over the next few days.