THUNDERSTORMS packing tornadoes and hail as big as grapefruits ripped through eight mid-western states, killing at least 27 people, injuring scores and destroying hundreds of homes.

Severe thunderstorms packing tornadoes and grapefruit-sized hail left a path of destruction across six Midwest states, killing 15 people in west Tennessee and at least four others in Missouri and Illinois.

Severe storms swept across the Midwest of the United States late yesterday, killing at least 14 people in Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois.