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Deadly tornado destroys 2 elementary schools in Moore, Okla.

May 21, 2013
At least two dozen people have died in the storm that struck the suburb of Oklahoma City

UPDATE from NewsOK.com: The Oklahoma state medical examiner has revised its estimate of the number of dead in Moore from Monday's tornado. Spokeswoman Amy Elliott says the office now is reporting 24 people dead. During the early phases of the recovery efforts, 51 deaths were reported to the state medical examiner's office.

From The Associated Press: Crews continued their search and rescue effort throughout the night at Plaza Towers Elementary, where the storm had ripped off the school's roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal as students and teachers huddled in hallways and bathrooms. Children from the school were among the dead, but several students were pulled out alive from under a collapsed wall and other heaps of mangled debris.

Earlier: A massive tornado ripped across Moore, Okla., Monday afternoon as it wiped out neighborhoods and destroyed two schools. News9.com says the twister destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School and Briarwood Elementary School. At Plaza Towers, there were reports late Monday of children and staff still missing or trapped in the debris. At Briarwood, some minor injuries were reported, but all students were accounted for.

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Mike Kennedy Blogger | Writer

Mike Kennedy has written for AS&U since 1999.

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