At least 84 people are likely dead across five states after tornadoes tore through the US, affecting residents in at least six states. As many as a hundred people are feared to have lost their lives in Kentucky alone.
Officials have said that there are “confirmed fatalities” after workers became trapped when a roof collapsed at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.
Hundreds are feared to be dead across the midwest and the southern US following a string of strong nocturnal tornadoes overnight between Friday and Saturday.
The governor of Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear, said “north of 70” people had been killed in the path of a tornado stretching at least 200 miles. Mr Beshear added that the number of deaths was expected to increase towards 100 later on Saturday.
“It has been one of the toughest nights in Kentucky history,” the governor said. “Some areas have been hit in ways that are hard to put into words.”
The estimated number of deaths suggests that the storm that hit the state on Friday night could be the deadliest storm since 1890 when 76 people were killed in the area around Louisville.
And weather experts say the tornado may have touched down for as far as 250 miles, possibly making it the longest twister on record.
Source: Independent
