Powerful tornado kills 4 injures hundreds in Uruguay

Montevideo: A powerful tornado ripped through the southwestern city of Dolores in Uruguay killing at least four people and leaving hundreds injured government officials said.

More than 200 people suffered injuries and about 400 structures have been affected Uruguayan Sen. Guillermo Besozzi said.

"There are businesses in the center of the city completely destroyed. Schools churches destroyed. This is something never seen before. This is something out of the normal for our country" Besozzi said.

Another 12 people were missing from the town 240 kilometers north-west of Montevideo newspaper El Pais reported.

Several houses in the town of 25000 people had collapsed in gusts reaching 250 kilometers per hour according to a weather reporter on broadcaster Subrayado.

President Tabare Vazquez declared a state of emergency in the region.

The tornado hit the city late Friday. The National Institute of Meteorology has yet to determine the scale of the tornado.

QNA