Tornado kills 5 in flood-hit southern Chinese city of Guangzhou

In all, 141 factory buildings were damaged, authorities said.

A strong tornado hit China’s southern mega city of Guangzhou on Saturday (Apr 27) afternoon, killing five people and injuring 33, as severe rain and a hailstorm battered the Guangdong provincial capital.

Authorities said the tornado was of level-three intensity, two tiers lower than the highest level of five. An investigation into the damage caused was underway, state news agency Xinhua reported.

In all, 141 factory buildings were damaged, authorities said.

The weather station in Liangtian village in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district, roughly 2.8km from the tornado’s “point of occurrence”, registered a maximum wind gust of 20.6m per second at around 3pm, Xinhua said.