A tornado lasting for more than 15 minutes hit the Yangtze River near Jianli, Hubei province, on Monday night when a ship carrying 456 people capsized, the national weather authority said on Tuesday.

The wind speed of the 1-kilometer-wide tornado reached Level 12 on the Beaufort scale (117 km/hor above), and lasted for 15 to 20minutes, according to a statement released by the China Meteorological Administration.

Between 9 pm and 10 pm, rainfall in the area exceeded 64 millimeters, the administration said.