A tornado and hailstorm have killed at least 98 people and injured nearly 800 in the east Chinese province of Jiangsu, according to state media.

Accompanied by torrential rain, the tornado struck the outskirts of the city of Yancheng on Thursday afternoon.

Counties on the city’s outskirts saw winds of up to 125km/h (78 mph).

The search for survivors in debris has now been completed with a clean-up under way, the head of the provincial fire corps told state media.

President Xi Jinping had ordered “all-out rescue efforts” after what the Xinhua news agency said was one of the worst disasters ever to hit Jiangsu.

It was also the worst tornado to hit China in half a century, it said.

The damage from the tornado has been significant. There were buckled pylons and cables coiled up by the side of the road on the way to Xintu village.

A woman in her 60s said she’d never seen anything like it; roofs blown off, walls collapsed, cars submerged in canals, straw stuck in broken windows where the immense winds had blown it.

Families tried to gather what belongings they could in piles around them.

At one end of the village, a couple of men were guiding a big sow, and most of her piglets, out of a very messy courtyard. They were sleeping inside a pen when half the roof fell down.

 

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36607600