Kentucky tornado death toll rises to at least 80: governor

Mayfield, United States, Dec 12 (AFP/APP):The death toll from powerful tornadoes that lashed the United States has risen to more than 80 in Kentucky alone, the state’s governor said Sunday, adding he expects the statewide fatalities from the disaster to surpass 100.

“The confirmation process is slow. I can tell you from reports that I’ve received, I know we’ve lost more than 80 Kentuckians,” Governor Andy Beshear told CNN.

“That number is going to exceed more than 100,” he added.
The new figure brings to 93 the confirmed death toll from the storms that ravaged six US states overnight Friday into Saturday, with dozens still missing and several towns devastated.

A focal point is the western Kentucky town of Mayfield, where a candle factory packed with employees working to meet holiday demand collapsed during the storm.

Emergency crews were racing against time to find survivors, but the operation was grim, with no one pulled out alive since roughly 3:30am (0830 GMT) Saturday.

“We had about 110 Kentuckians, mainly residents of Mayfield, that were working in that facility,” Beshear said.

“About 40 of them have been rescued, and I’m not sure we’re going to see another rescue,” he said. “I pray for it. It would be an incredible miracle.”

Aside from the 80 deaths in Kentucky, six have been confirmed dead at an Amazon warehouse collapse in Illinois, four died in Tennessee, two were killed in Arkansas and one fatality was recorded in Missouri.