28 KILLED IN TORNADOES

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27038, 13 May 1953, Page 9

28 KILLED IN TORNADOES

Heavy Damage In Two Texas Towns

(Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK, May 11. At least 28 persons were killed and 300 injured when tornadoes hit two widely-separated Texas towns today. Twenty-one died when a tornado of terrific force ripped into the middle of Waco. More bodies are expected to be recovered in the ruins. Seven died two hours earlier when another tornado carved a path through San Angelo, 200 miles to the west. A police official at Waco reported that an entire audience was trapped in the rubble of a cinema which collapsed. Other persons were trapped in a six-storey furniture shop, a restaurant, and a billiards hall, which also collapsed. The city’s civil defence head, Mr James Meredith, who took charge of the rescue operations, said: “There are perhaps 100 to 150 dead, and we have just begun to dig. The centre of the town is just a mass of crumpled steel and rubble. It is a horrible sight.” Red Cross teams were rushed to the areas and rescue work continued into the night The Weather Bureau said the two storms were unrelated, although it had warned earlier that tornadoes might be expected from San Angelo to Waco. The wind in Waco .blew away signs, smashed plate glass Windows and sent merchandise tumbling along the streets. Huge gusts blew down power lines and snapped telegraph poles. Waco has a population of 90,000 and San Angelo about 55,000.

Dust Storms in Northern India.—All air services in and out of New Delhi were cancelled today because of a dust storm hanging in a yellow pall over the city. Aircraft were diverted to Agra and Jodhpur. Two aircraft, a Comet and a Dakota, crashed in northern India in the last 10 days during or just after dust storms, killing 61 people.—New Delhi, May IL