Disasters & Accidents

At least 50 feared dead in Kentucky after tornadoes rip through region

Miami, US, Dec 11 (EFE).- An outbreak of tornadoes that occurred overnight in the state of Kentucky killed at least 50 people, state governor Andy Beshear said on Saturday.

“I fear that there are more than 50 dead (…) probably closer to somewhere between 70 and 100,” he told a press conference.

One of the tornadoes has made landfall and moved nearly 320 kilometers (199 miles) in what the governor described as “most severe tornado event in Kentucky’s history.”

Dozens were feared dead at a factory where over 100 people were working in Mayfield city, he added.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center estimates that 32 tornadoes made landfall in recent hours in several states across the country, including Tennessee, Illinois and Arkansas, where more fatalities have been reported.

Local authorities reported fatalities at an Amazon factory in Edwardsville, Illinois, where a search and rescue operation was underway.

In Tennessee, two people were killed in the far northwestern corner of the state, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Dean Flener, while a third person died in neighboring Obion County.

At least one person died in Arkansas and several more were trapped at a nursing home when a tornado hit the building late Friday, local media reported. EFE

abm/ta/jt

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