Hailstorms kill 6 in central China's Hunan Province

Hailstorms have killed six people and left one missing in central China's Hunan Province, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs Sunday.

China's National Disaster Reduction Committee and the Ministry of Civil Affairs started national emergency response late Sunday, dispatching working teams to the hailstorm-ravaged areas to help with disaster relief.

Hailstorms have stricken 66 county-level areas across 12 cities in Hunan since May 8, affecting 3.42 million people, the ministry said quoting data reported by provincial civil affairs authority.

Furthermore, hailstorms resulted in direct economic losses of 3.9 billion yuan (US$619 million). About 64,000 people were relocated to safer places following the disaster, crops of 238,500 hectares were affected, and 7,600 houses collapsed, with another 7,100 houses severely damaged.

Hunan provincial government has allocated disaster-relief fund worth three million yuan.