US tornadoes claim 20 lives as Bush plans visit

US President George Bush will today visit areas hit by tornadoes that have killed at least 20 people in several American states, including eight students at an Alabama high school.

The White House said Bush would make two stops, but his destinations were still being worked out with governors in the affected states.

The burst of tornadoes was part of a line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Authorities blamed tornadoes for the deaths of a seven-year-old girl in Missouri, 10 people in Alabama and nine in Georgia, and twisters also damaged homes in Kansas.