Aerial photos have revealed wide devastation in part of the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the area, killing five people and injuring dozens of others.

As businesses and residents began cleaning up the debris, the images, posted by Chinese state media on Sunday, show street after street of flattened buildings in the hardest hit area, with a few clusters of buildings standing amid the destruction.

Cars can be seen crushed by rubble, and some buildings have had their sheet metal roofs torn off.

Authorities said 33 people were injured when the twister tore through the area on Saturday, and power supplies were also knocked out.

Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province and a manufacturing hub near Hong Kong.

The tornado, which struck during an afternoon thunderstorm, also brought hail and 141 factory buildings were damaged, according to authorities.

They said no homes were destroyed, though a news website under the Southern Media Group reported some had broken windows.

The tornado hit several villages in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district. In one, packing material known as “pearl cotton” was left hanging from buildings and trees.

Workers were rolling up the material to be carted away for disposal on Sunday.

The tornado hit one week after heavy rain and flooding killed at least four people in Guangdong province.

In September, two tornadoes killed 10 people in Jiangsu province in eastern China.