Chicago, May 23 (IANS) At least 24 people were killed in Joplin, a southern city of Missouri state, and one person died in Minneapolis city as tornadoes battered parts of the central areas of the US Sunday, Xinhua reported.

There were 24 fatalities after a tornado hit Joplin. The number of injuries is unknown, reported the local newspaper Springfield News-Leader, citing a Springfield-Greene County emergency official.

The Regional Medical Centre of St. John, a suburban city in St. Louis County, Missouri, was directly hit by the tornado and confirmed fatalities have been reported, but the exact number remained unknown, said the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency.

In Minneapolis city, death of at least one person has been confirmed while 29 others are said to be injured, two of them critically.

Bsides, a strong storm also caused significant damage in La Crosse, a city on the west of Wisconsin and there were no immediate reports of serious injuries.

The storm was part of a series that battered the Midwest Sunday night.