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A gigantic tornado has ripped through a suburb of Oklahoma City, on the second day in a row the Midwestern state of Oklahoma has been slammed by twisters.

The "mile-wide" storm destroyed a primary school, sparked fires, and flattened homes.

Scores of primary school children are believed to be trapped under the debris, local media reported.

On Sunday, at least two people died and 21 more were injured by the tornadoes that also razed a mobile home park.

Children are being pulled alive from the wreckage of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb just south of Oklahoma City where the twister struck about 16:00 local time (22:00 BST) on Monday.

There have been no reports of children injured or killed there.

"It's going to take awhile to recover from something like this," Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole told CNN.

Tornadoes, hail and high winds also hit Iowa and Kansas, part of a storm system stretching from Texas to Minnesota.

The National Weather Service (NWS) says there is a continuing risk of dangerous thunderstorms in the region that could produce hail and tornadoes on Monday afternoon.
'Everything is gone'

On Sunday, a tornado smashed a trailer park on Highway 102 near Shawnee.

Oklahoma's state medical examiner confirmed on Monday that two people had been killed near the trailer park: Glen Irish, 79, and Billy Hutchinson, 76.

Both lived in Shawnee, but it was not immediately clear if either or both lived in mobile home park.

The Oklahoman newspaper reported that five people were brought to Norman Regional Hospital for injuries, with three injured critically.

Thousands of residents in the affected areas have been left without power.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency in 16 counties in order to send aid to the worst-hit parts of the state.

At least four tornadoes ravaged the state on Sunday, part of a storm system that was moving north-east across the Midwestern states and Texas.

"Right now we're in a rescue and recovery stage," Gov Fallin said. "We're still not in the clear yet."

Presenters of a local afternoon news programme were forced to evacuate during a live broadcast as the tornado touched down on Sunday.

On Sunday, a tornado smashed a trailer park

A new series of tornadoes has swept through the US state of Oklahoma, killing at least nine people, including two children, officials say.

The tornadoes struck near the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, where 24 people were killed by a violent tornado nearly two weeks ago.

The latest storm struck during Friday's evening rush hour, trapping many people in cars and causing traffic chaos.

More than 60,000 homes lost power and heavy rain has caused severe flooding.

Many streets were inundated with up to 4ft (1.2 m) of water.

Storms also swept through Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Centre said the severe weather was shifting eastward on Saturday, towards Ohio and the Mississippi River Valleys.