"The storm hit Thursday afternoon on the Pukkepop festival, held near the town of Hasselt, and killed at least five people," Hasselt mayor Hilde Claes told local radio after reports that two stages had collapsed.

Organisers said that the leading music festival, which opened Thursday and was set to run through Saturday, had been cancelled as a result of the tragedy.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011