Two disappeared in the Sunday evening storm. Ambulance crews took 38 seriously injured and 66 lightly injured patients to hospital. Emese Danks, the government spokesperson, said a further 150 people turned up at hospitals independently.

She said the prime minister had been briefed on the injuries, the damage caused and the measures being taken by the relevant authorities.

Ms Danks added that the chancery minister had held meetings with Gabor Demszky and the head of the Budapest defence committee in order to coordinate rescue efforts. The mayor had asked for central government help to clear debris from the streets. She said the government and all other interested parties were ready to provide assistance.

Two died on the lower Buda embankment. A tree fell on a 12-year-old girl and a man in his thirties. An elderly woman died on the Pest side of the river, though it is not yet known if her death is due to injury or panic.

Fractures and concussions were the most frequently reported injuries. Many suffered glass cuts, and one received an electric shock. Several small boats collided and capsized on the Danube. Several fell into the water and are still being sought.

Following an extraordinary meeting of the Metropolitan Defence Committee, Budapest mayor Gabor Demszky said: "If the organisers of the fireworks had reacted to the National Meterological Service's 8pm warning on Sunday by cancelling the fireworks, then the accidents and the tragic deaths would not have happened. There must be a detailed inquiry to establish why the fireworks were not called off." Ambulance crews know of three fatalities and 104 injuries, of whom 38 are seriously injured, according to Pal Gyorfi, an ambulance service spokesman. Hungarian Television has reported 240 injuries.

On Monday morning, two tram routes and two trolley bus routes were suspended. There is no train transport. City Hall hopes to have the Pest and Buda embankments cleared this morning. No major roads are affected. Firemen are still at work in the city. The government spokesperson said the prime minister would make a statement on Monday morning once fully briefed on events.

The storm felled trees in various places and damaged power lines on several tram and trolleybus routes. The number 3 and number 62 trams are running on shortened routes, and the 83 trolleybus has been suspended.

The Disaster Defence Agency's spokesperson said the agency had not received a forecast from the National Meterological Service. The spokesperson said: "They forecast a big storm, but did not mention Budapest or its expected time." He added that the estimated million-strong crowd would not have been able to leave the streets in time even if the fireworks had been cancelled at the last minute.

Cancelling the fireworks did not belong to the agency's remit, the spokesperson said. But Laszlo Molnar, a meterologist at the Meterological Service said the service had forecast that the storm would reach Budapest at about 9 o'clock.

The fire brigades said they were at work in 250 places around the city as a result of the storm. A spokesperson said the fire brigades were still receiving constant emergency calls at 5am. The spokesperson expected the number of calls to rise as the population woke up in the morning.