Two tornadoes have battered Wuhan and another Chinese city leaving seven people dead and hundreds injured while ripping apart homes in their path.
Six people were killed in the central city of Wuhan and another 218 injured as the vicious storm struck the epicenter of the Covid crisis, it is reported.
The tornado toppled 27 houses and damaged 130 more, as well as two tower cranes and eight square kilometres of sheds at construction sites.
Wuhan has been at the centre of world attention during the Covid pandemic as the virus is believed to have originated from the city.
Focus has been on the Huanan market were it is been suggested that the virus could have spread from bats to humans.
(Image: PDChina/Twitter)
Dramatic pictures from Friday show whole buildings reduced to wreckage, cars damaged by falling objects and powerful winds whipping debris high up unto the air.
The severe weather has hit a city that had begun to bounce back after a strict lockdown that was introduced to curb the deadly virus.
Another tornado struck the town of Shengze, in the Suzhou area of tornado-prone Jiangsu province, killing one person and injuring 21.
(Image: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: PDChina/Twitter)
Fire officials said the winds damaged electricity facilities and toppled several factory buildings in the region which is often hit by tornadoes at this time of the year.
China’s commercial hub of Shanghai, 62 miles from Suzhou, was also hit by powerful thunderstorms, prompting weather officials to declare an alert.
(Image: txyyss/Twitter)
Another tornado also struck a town in the Suzhou province on Friday but it’s not the first time the region has been hit by life-threatening weather.
At least 99 people were killed in China by a storm which produced multiple tornadoes in 2016 and more than 800 were injured.