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20 people have died and many injured as tornadoes ripped through the US last night
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February 06, 2008, 10:00
Tornadoes and thunderstorms ravaged four states in the American South last night, killing at least 20 people, injuring dozens and causing widespread damage.
The violent storms swept across Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi, overturning trucks, trapping people, and smashing houses. Two of the states hit by the tornadoes, Arkansas and Tennessee, were involved in "Super Tuesday" as a total of 24 states across the country held nominating contests ahead of November's presidential election.
Several candidates expressed condolences to the victims as they addressed supporters and there were media reports that at least four polling stations in western Tennessee were closed because of the storm. In Arkansas, emergency services reported 11 dead after tornadoes hit as many as eight counties.
In Kentucky, at least three people were killed at a mobile home park, six more died in Tennessee, and more than two dozen others were injured, some critically.
Estimated damage
Extensive damage in Tennessee included part of a shopping mall in Memphis and a dormitory at Union University in Jackson, where some students were trapped for a time but not seriously injured, according to the Web site of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
The newspaper quoted a National Weather Service spokesman as saying the Memphis area had been hit by a "pretty significant tornado."
CNN reported as many as 86 injuries and an unknown number of fatalities from the storm system, which swept through Arkansas before moving into Tennessee. - Reuters
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