Injuries in C China tornado rises to 52

CHANGSHA - The number of people injured after a tornado battered Central China's Hunan province on Wednesday morning has risen to 52, the local government said.

The tornado passed through Daoxian county of Hunan's Yongzhou city at about 3 am..

As reported earlier three people died. One person was killed after a house collapsed, and another two people died in hospital.

The local meteorological observatory said the wind speed of the tornado reached 30.7 meters per second, a record for the observatory.

As of 3 pm, about 110,000 people in Daoxian county had been affected by the tornado.

Relief materials, including 200,000 yuan ($32,196) offered by the county's financial department, and rice, quilts, water and instant noodles from local civil affairs departments have been allocated to those affected.

More than 2,000 policemen, firefighters, armed police, officials from power authorities and residents have helped in rescue and relief efforts.

Most of the affected areas in the county have seen power restored.