UPDATE - 78 dead after tornado hits southeast China

UPDATES TO RAISE DEATH TOLL, WRITETHRU

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) - Extreme weather conditions claimed the lives of at least 78 people in China's southeast on Thursday, with thunder, lightning, rainstorms, hailstorms and a tornado devastating counties and villages.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the extreme conditions had battered parts of Yancheng city at 2.30 p.m. (0730GMT), causing many houses to topple.

Over the next nine hours the ministry of affairs said that 500 were also injured, around 200 of whom were in a critical condition.

Extreme weather conditions were reported in several townships in Yancheng's suburbs, where gales reached 125 kilometers per hour.

Xinhua reported that President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang had instructed authorities to make every effort to rescue the injured and minimize casualties.