At least 24 killed by US tornados

A massive storm system has spawned tornados along a broad swathe of the US Midwest, with one city in Missouri hit with such force that dozens of cars were overturned and entire neighbourhoods razed to the ground, leaving only a forest of splintered tree trunks behind.

An unknown number were killed in Joplin, in south-west Missouri, yesterday, and officials struggling to communicate without power and mobile phone services were wary of putting a figure on a death toll they feared would rise after daybreak.