1 dead, scores reportedly injured as tornadoes blast two Chinese cities, hitting houses & factories (VIDEOS)

Two tornadoes have ripped through central and eastern China, killing one person, injuring more than 60 people and causing significant damage in each locality, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

One person died and 21 were injured, two seriously, after a storm system struck the Shengze area of Suzhou city in eastern China's Jiangsu province.

Electricity infrastructure was damaged and several factory buildings collapsed, city fire officers told Xinhua.

Dramatic footage purportedly captured by stunned eyewitnesses in Shengze and shared online appeared to show a huge tornado carrying miscellaneous debris through the air, and lightning cracking across the sky.

The other tornado was reported to have hit the city of Wuhan in China's central Hubei province, where six people were reported missing and 41 were treated in hospital.

The storm hit the Caidian District at 8:39pm local time (8:39am ET), according to Chinese media. Construction site sheds were also destroyed and a large number of trees snapped, local officials told Xinhua.

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