Ten children named among those killed by Oklahoma tornado

Ten children were named last night as being among the 24 victims of the Oklahoma tornado.

The youngest, a girl named Case Futrell, was just four months old. Another girl, Sydnee Vargyas, was seven months.

The oldest fatality, a man named Hemant Bhonde, was 65.

Many died of injuries related to blunt force trauma, including to the head and chest, but among the children — seven of whom were 8 or 9 years old — the cause of death for five of them was "mechanical asphyxiation," which means they suffocated to death.

Experts said the overwhelming pressure from the rubble of the collapsed school took the victims’ breath away.

However, there was some rare good news for the shell-shocked residents of Moore, Oklahoma, when police revealed that five missing people had been found alive and well.

The discovery ended three days of torment for families who feared they would never see their loved ones again. Most of the people found had been taken in by Good Samaritans and hadn’t been able to get in touch with their families in the chaotic aftermath of Monday’s killer storm.

The lucky people who were found alive have not been identified, though one is believed to be 10-year-old Plaza Towers Elementary student Aubrey Crook.

The school was the focus of a desperate search for survivors after the monstrous two-mile wide twister barreled through the densely populated neighbourhood on Monday afternoon.

Six more people are still said to be missing, but the desperate search for survivors was called off yesterday as the community began the long process of rebuilding.

"We are, we hope, in the recovery stages now,' Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN. "It's going to take a while to get through all this, and we certainly are making a plan to move by stages."

The White House confirmed last night that President Obama plans to visit the devastated town over the weekend.