Tornado leaves 2 dead in western Uruguay

A tornado that thrashed the city of Dolores in the department of Soriano in western Uruguay on Friday has left two people dead and two others seriously injured, the country's emergency services said.

The tornado was registered on Friday afternoon and "severely affected the people" and the infrastructure, said Juan Andres Roballo, the president of the National System of Emergencies.

Two children were seriously wounded and have been moved to medical centers in Uruguay's capital city of Montevideo, said the official.

President Tabare Vazquez ordered that all the government's resources be made available to attend to the situation in Dolores, according to Roballo.

The material damage has not been made public, while images of destroyed houses and cars have circulated on social networks.

Dolores, situated 20 kilometers from River Uruguay and on the border with Argentina, is located 279 kilometers northeast of Montevideo.

Known as the country's "grain store" due to the amount of agriculture production in the area, Dolores has 21,000 inhabitants, according to the latest official data available.

Source: XINHUA