Oklahoma: 2 dead, 29 injured as 'devastating' tornado touches down

At least two people were killed and over dozen others suffered injuries after a deadly tornado touched down in El Reno, Oklahoma, on late Saturday night (local time), authorities said.

CNN quoted Mayor Matt White of El Reno as saying that a mobile home park in El Reno was "devastated".

White said, "It's a lot of devastation here, it's levelled, it's just devastated," adding, "It's tore all to pieces, it was terrible."

In a press conference on Sunday morning, White said a search and rescue operation is still underway, while some of the 29 injured are in critical condition and have been shifted to hospitals.

El Reno, with a population of about 19,000 people, is located around 29 miles west of Oklahoma City.

The mayor said that tornado sirens began blaring at 10:27 pm, and according to the information he had, the storm touched down four minutes later, damaging a southeast section of the town near Interstate 40.

In addition to the mobile home park, a hotel was also damaged, said Kent Lagaly, Chief of El Reno Fire Department.

"We absolutely have confirmed that all of the people from the hotel and motel are accounted for at this point in time," the mayor told The New York Times.

The tornado hit as Oklahoma and other parts of the Midwest were still reeling from a deadly spring storm system that had resulted in more than 170 reported tornadoes along with strong winds, flash flooding and hail in the recent days.