Tornado leaves two dead in Hebei

Two villagers were killed after a tornado hit Qingyuan district in Baoding, North China's Hebei province, on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report by Hebei Daily.

Donglyu village in the district was slammed by the tornado at around 5 pm, leaving several factories damaged. The district also experienced wind and hail for about 30 minutes.

The local government dispatched rescue teams including firefighters and utility workers to the district immediately after the tornado occurred and repaired some damaged electricity circuits and gas pipelines. Other disaster relief work continues.

Many cities in Hebei have suffered rainy weather for about three days, with some southern and western parts hit by rainstorms.

The province's meteorological bureau issued a red alert for rainstorm on Thursday morning. Some parts in Handan, Xingtai and Shijiazhuang will continue to see heavy rains. Handan borders Henan province, which has been hit hard by rain disasters in the past two days.