美國遭遇龍卷風51人遇難120多人受傷(雙語)

A 2-mile-wide (3-km-wide) tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, killing at least 51 people including 20 children, destroying entire tracts of homes and trapping two dozen school children beneath rubble。

Rescue teams raced against the setting sun and worked into the darkness in search of survivors as the dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters。

The Oklahoma medical examiner confirmed 51 deaths including 20 children, making it the deadliest U.S. tornado since one killed 161 people in Joplin, Missouri. Area hospitals reported at least 230 people injured, including at least 45 children。

Emergency crews searched the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School to look for two dozen missing children, Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb said. The school took a direct hit from the tornado, Lamb told CNN。

Police and fire crews pulled some school children from the devastation, a KFOR television reporter said from the scene。

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center provided the town with a warning 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 3:01 p.m. local time (4.01 p.m. EDT)， which is greater than the average eight to 10 minutes of warning, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the center in Norman, Oklahoma。

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a temporary flight restriction that allowed only relief aircraft in the area, saying it was at the request of local police who wanted quiet to search for buried survivors。

Oklahoma activated the National Guard, and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency activated teams to support recovery operations and coordinate responses for multiple agencies。

Briarwood Elementary School, which also stood in the storm's path, was all but destroyed. On the first floor, sections of walls had been peeled away, affording clear views into the building, while in other areas, cars hurled by the storm winds were lodged in the walls。

While the school was a wreck, nearby playground equipment stood undamaged, though littered with rubble. Across the street, people picked through the remains of their homes, looking for any possessions they might salvage。

The number of injured as reported by several hospitals rose rapidly throughout the afternoon。

【新聞快訊】

據報道，一場風速高達每小時320公里的龍卷風當日襲擊了俄克拉何馬城南部的穆爾市，所到之處造成“大面積損失”，很多建筑物被摧毀，大片街區(qū)淪為廢墟。美國哥倫比亞廣播公司報道，俄克拉何馬州法醫(yī)辦公室已證實，目前這場龍卷風已造成至少51人喪生，其中包括數名小學生。

由于穆爾市的兩所小學位于龍卷風經過地帶，其中一所小學“遭到龍卷風的直接襲擊。”穆爾市兩所醫(yī)院證實，它們目前收治了約120名傷者，其中包括約70名學生。

穆爾市警方表示，搜救工作仍在進行，目前傷亡人數還不能確認，隨著搜尋工作的展開，傷亡數字還可能增加。據美國媒體報道，人口約5.5萬的穆爾市曾經歷過美國歷史上最嚴重的龍卷風之一。1999年5月，一場龍卷風襲擊穆爾市，造成42人死亡。