PRAGUE (AFP) – A tornado razed houses to the ground in several places in the south-east of the Czech Republic on Thursday (June 24), leaving dozens of injured people, rescuers and politicians said.

“We estimate the number of injured people at 100-150, ranging from children to senior citizens,” regional emergency services spokeswoman Michaela Bothova told Czech Television.

Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said he expected “lost lives”, adding that a search and rescue team specialised in locating people under debris was on its way.

“All available rescue units are in action or moving to the Hodonin region where several municipalities have been hit by a tornado,” Hamacek said on Twitter.

He added that the government was considering deploying the army.

Rescuers said their Austrian and Slovak counterparts were on their way to help.

The tornado hit several towns and villages including the city of Hodonin on the Czech-Slovak border, where it caused injuries and damaged a retirement home.

Video footage from Hodonin on social networks showed destroyed buildings and cars, tree-less stumps, as well as several fires.

The Czech news agency CTK quoted the mayor of Hrusky as saying that half of his village had been razed to the ground.

It added that the Hodonin hospital had accepted dozens of injured people following the tornado which also toppled a bus.

In neighbouring Poland, a twister struck the southern Malopolska province on Thursday, damaging roofs and injuring one person, according to local media.

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