The tornado that hit Joplin town in the U.S. state of Missouri a week ago has reached 142 dead, local authorities said, in a context where the U.S. president will attend a ceremony in memory of the victims.
The victims include a teenager, Will Norton, snatched from the car while he was heading home after a graduation ceremony.
President Barack Obama will attend a ceremony Sunday in memory of tornado victims. Six days after the tornado response teams continue the search, over 100 people are still missing.
Relatives of victims have not received permission to go to the morgue, authorities preferring to establish a system to identify the corpses by DNA or fingerprints, saying that visual identification is not hundred percent secure.
Sharyn Dawson does not know anything about her mother aged 74 years, Patricia Dawson, whose house was completely destroyed. “I joined the people that are contesting this proceeding. But I really want to know immediately if she is at the morgue”, she says.
According to recent estimates, about 8,000 buildings were affected by the tornado that had wind speeds up to 200 miles per hour.
The tornado caused damage of around three billion dollars, according to estimates from firm Eqecat.