Storms, tornado leave 78 dead

Nearly 500 injured as extreme weather hits Jiangsu province

Seventy-eight people were killed and nearly 500 injured in disasters caused by extreme weather conditions, including a tornado, in Jiangsu province on Thursday.

Buildings collapsed as thunder, lightning, rainstorms, hailstorms and the tornado struck counties and villages in the city of Yancheng at about 2:30 pm.

By 11 pm, among the 500 injured, about 200 were in critical condition, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang instructed authorities to make every effort to rescue the injured and do everything possible to minimize casualties.

They also called for proper handling of the aftermath, as well as intensified meteorological monitoring and geological disaster assessment.

A State Council work group headed by Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs Dou Yupei rushed to Yancheng. The ministry has sent relief materials, including more than 1,000 tents and 2,000 folding beds, to the affected areas.

Extreme weather conditions were reported in several townships in Funing and Sheyang counties in the suburbs of Yancheng.

Gales of 125 kilometers per hour battered several outer townships in Funing county, while in Sheyang, the winds reached 100 km per hour.

Some regions reported blackouts and interruptions to communications.

"We've never witnessed such a disaster or severe weather conditions," said Qiao Zonghua, a media official at the Yancheng government. He said the tornado struck densely populated areas.

Witnesses said they saw huge trees falling and villages leveled. Victims were dragged from the ruins of their homes and taken to hospitals.

"I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows," said Xie Litian, 62, from Donggou township in Funing county. "I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall with the windows in it torn away."

As he ran downstairs, the roof collapsed. "I crouched in a corner on the ground floor for at least 20 minutes, afraid to move."

When the gales subsided and Xie escaped to safety, all the other houses in the neighborhood had disappeared. "It was like the end of the world," he said.

Xie said he saw utility poles uprooted and his tractors blown away. "I was drowning in my sorrow, until I heard cries for help from a neighbor buried in the debris of her home."

Xie helped the woman out and took her to a hospital 10 km away on his motorcycle. "The road was blocked with rubble and fallen trees. Halfway to the hospital, I met my nephew driving a truck. Together, we put the women into his truck and drove on."

Another villager, surnamed Li, who crawled out of her collapsed house told China News Service she had been outside when the sky suddenly darkened.

She was scared and found a place to hide, where she heard roaring winds and heavy rain outside that flattened her home.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at zhuzhe@chinadaily.com.cn