(Reuters) – At least 21 people died in Kentucky and Missouri in the United States, when strong storms that generated tornadoes reached both states, the authorities said on Saturday, and the death toll should increase.
In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear said early Saturday that at least 14 people died in his state.
“Kentucky, we are starting today with the harsh news that we lost at least 14 people due to last night’s storms, but unfortunately, this number should increase as we get more information,” Beshear said on Saturday in a post on the X social media platform.
At least nine of the deaths occurred in Laurel County, about 150 miles south of Louisville, when a tornado hit the site just before Saturday midnight, said sheriff John Root in a social media post, describing as “a mass victim event.”
There were several serious injuries, he said, and a search for survivors was underway.
Aerial images posted on social networks showed scenes of total destruction in Laurel County, with whole blocks of houses reduced to shrapnel, and cars and pickup trucks destroyed or crushed on the tornado trail.
