KANSAS CITY (Reuters) – The death toll from the May 22 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, has reached 154, according to a city statement on Friday.
That number is up from 153 reported by the city on June 13. The most recent victim was James Cookerly, city public information officer Lynn Onstot said with providing further information.
The massive F-5 tornado cut a six-mile swath through the southwest Missouri city just as residents were sitting down to Sunday dinner. It was the deadliest single tornado in the United States since 1947.
Tornadoes have battered the country this spring, killing more than 500 people, mostly in the south.
The death toll from the Joplin storm has risen as people die of injuries. Some have died due to a fungal infection from debris that contained soil or plant matter, officials have said.
(Edited by Peter Bohan)
