Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
- 9,607
- 910
At least 78 people died Thursday after a powerful tornado, hailstorms and heavy rain slammed into eastern China, turning buildings into rubble, crushing trees and leaving many homeless, according to various reports.
In addition to the dead, at least 500 people suffered injuries -- 200 of them critical -- the Xinhua news agency reported after the weather barreled through Yancheng City in China's Jiangsu province on Thursday afternoon. Hundreds of villagers were trapped in rubble, according to Xinhua.
"I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows," area resident Xie Litian, 62, told Xinhua. "I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall with the windows on it torn away."
The roof then collapsed as he raced downstairs, Xie said. After sheltering in a corner for 20 minutes, he emerged to find the neighborhood transformed into a wasteland. "It was like the end of the world," he said.
The affected area is about 500 miles south of Beijing.
Video from the disaster showed scenes of children being carried on the back of mopeds, broken trees and overturned cars, the BBC reported.
Powerful tornado strikes China; 78 reportedly dead
You can see some of the damage here:
Devastating tornado kills 51 people in China after it rips through homes
It's tragic.
In addition to the dead, at least 500 people suffered injuries -- 200 of them critical -- the Xinhua news agency reported after the weather barreled through Yancheng City in China's Jiangsu province on Thursday afternoon. Hundreds of villagers were trapped in rubble, according to Xinhua.
"I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows," area resident Xie Litian, 62, told Xinhua. "I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall with the windows on it torn away."
The roof then collapsed as he raced downstairs, Xie said. After sheltering in a corner for 20 minutes, he emerged to find the neighborhood transformed into a wasteland. "It was like the end of the world," he said.
The affected area is about 500 miles south of Beijing.
Video from the disaster showed scenes of children being carried on the back of mopeds, broken trees and overturned cars, the BBC reported.
Powerful tornado strikes China; 78 reportedly dead
You can see some of the damage here:
Devastating tornado kills 51 people in China after it rips through homes
It's tragic.
