A severe hail storm that swept through eastern China has killed at least 23 people and injured more than 200, the local government and state media said Tuesday. The storm hit 15 cities and 63 counties across Anhui province late last week, packing winds of up to 97 kilometres (60 miles) per hour, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
"So far there are 23 dead and more than two hundred injured," Xue Kunming, head of disaster relief at Anhui's Civil Affairs Bureau, told AFP. The storm cost at least 535 million yuan (78 million dollars) in losses and snapped power lines and poles in some areas, according to the bureau. "The situation has become stable," Xue said.
It was the second fatal hail storm reported in China this month. State media reported Thursday a massive wind and hail storm in central China left 20 people dead and at least 40 injured across dozens of rural towns.