Tornadoes kill 10 people and seriously injure 4 others in eastern China

In this frame taken from a video, debris scatters in the sky after a tornado swept through houses in Suqian city in eastern China's Jiangsu Province on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (Zhang via AP)

BEIJING — Two tornadoes within hours killed 10 people and seriously injured four others in eastern China, state media said Wednesday.

The first tornado hit parts of Suqian city in Jiangsu province on Tuesday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said. It destroyed 137 homes and damaged crop land and pig farms. Five people died and four were injured.

A second tornado in the evening killed five people in Yancheng city, which is in the same province about 190 kilometres (120 miles) southeast of Suqian.

Videos posted online of the first tornado showed cars that had been tossed about, including at least one flipped onto its side, and debris swirling in the air above a several story-high building.

CCTV said that power and road service had been restored in the Suqian area.

Tornadoes are rare in China but have caused deaths in Jiangsu in recent years. One person in the province was killed in a tornado last year and four died in 2021. Another tornado killed eight people in the city of Wuhan the same day.