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.

In Alabama, eight students were killed when a tornado struck Enterprise High School, blowing out the walls and collapsing part of the roof. They were all in one wing of the school that took a direct hit, he said.

As the massive storm system swept into Georgia, another tornado apparently touched down near the Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, 117 miles south of Atlanta, killing at least two people and injuring an undetermined number of others.

Six more people were killed in the town of Newton, Georgia, including a child, and several homes were destroyed.

Early yesterday, the storm was pelting the Carolinas with heavy rain, causing power outages, street flooding.

In all, the National Weather Service received 31 reports of tornadoes on Thursday.