Tornados killed at least 78 people and injured dozens more in east China's Jiangsu Province Thursday, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Update: 78 people die in severe weather in Jiangsu, E China https://t.co/LA0yY0C2mL via @YouTube

-- China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 23, 2016

Downpours, hailstorms and a tornado battered parts of Yancheng City at 2:30 p.m., destroying many houses, the city government said in a press release.

It said the extreme weather was reported in several townships of Funing and Sheyang counties in the suburbs of Yancheng.

Gales of 125 km per hour battered several outer townships of Funing County, while in Sheyang, the winds reached 100 km per hour.

Many houses collapsed in the gales, with 51 deaths reported and dozens of injuries as of 8:30 p.m.