Eleven killed after extreme weather hits east China

NANJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people have died and dozens were injured after powerful gales struck east China's Jiangsu Province, the provincial authorities said Saturday.

Gales and hail swept parts of Jiangsu on Friday evening, including Nantong, Huai'an, Yancheng, Taizhou, and Suqian.

The disaster left 11 people dead, 66 injured, and 3,050 evacuated, the Jiangsu Provincial Emergency Management Department said.

A fishing boat capsized due to the storm, and 11 crew members fell into the water. Two have been rescued, and the search for nine others is underway.

The gale was as strong as 45.4 meters per second at a monitoring site at Tongzhou Bay, and some areas reported seeing hails with a diameter of up to 3 cm.

More than 1,700 hectares of crops and more than 6,000 houses were damaged, resulting in the direct economic loss of 16.4 million yuan (about 2.5 million U.S. dollars).

From 6 p.m. Friday to 3 p.m. Saturday, more than 1,200 firefighters in the city of Nantong were mobilized for rescue and evacuation work.

Local power grid workers are repairing the power network, and clearing work is underway.