A tornado lasting about five minutes in east China's Anhui Province has claimed one live and caused 18.5 million yuan (US$2.68 million) of losses, said a local official on Saturday.

Forty-five people, including eight seriously wounded, were being hospitalized after the tornado hit Lingbi County on Friday, said the official with the Suzhou municipal bureau of civil affairs.

Local resident Xu Wencai, 76, died of injuries on the way to hospital.

The tornado, moving at a speed up to 132 km per hour, blasted several villages at 2:20 PM and blew down 650 houses and damaged 960 others within five minutes.

More than 20,000 people were affected by the tornado, and 950 of them were relocated.