Fires, storms and tornadoes wreak havoc across US midwest

MASSIVE wildfires raced across northern Texas early yesterday, burning more than half a million acres and leaving at least seven people dead.

Four of the victims were killed in a chain-reaction crash on a smoke-obscured highway, and three others died in fires north-east of Amarillo.

Meanwhile, swarms of tornadoes killed at least 10 people across the midwest, shut down the University of Kansas and caused so much damage in Springfield that the mayor compared it to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.