"I was at the centre of the storm. A lightning bolt struck an 18-metre-tall poplar tree, flowed through the cement roof of a warehouse and exploded inside," said an official from the local weather bureau surnamed Mou.

Mou said the storm struck in a suburb of the town with few inhabitants.

"It was around three o'clock in the morning when we were woken by a great noise outside," said one villager, as quoted by the Chinese Business Morning.

"My wife and I got up and heard the huge rumbles coming closer and closer. Suddenly we saw the poplar crowned by fire and then bang, with a large explosion, the fire ball burst and hit the house next to ours just like a firecracker," the villager said.

All lights in the village went out the moment the bolt struck.

"Our TV receiver was set on fire instantly and turned black," said another villager who was watching TV at the time.

According to Mou, almost all the electronic instruments of the 200 local inhabitants were damaged by the storm, including TV sets, telephones and computers, adding that power was still down.

(China Daily April 21, 2005)