KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Tornadoes tore across the nation’s heartland Saturday evening, killing at least five people, mangling buildings and trapping people in the rubble of their homes in areas still reeling from other recent bouts with severe weather.

At least four people died in southwestern Missouri after storms plowed through, the National Weather Service said. Three died after a tornado hit near Seneca in Newton County, said meteorologist Bill Davis.

A twister left a half-mile-wide path of destruction in Oklahoma, killing at least one person and devastating the northeastern towns of Picher, Peoria and Commerce, an official said.

“I know of one fatality at this time and I’m afraid there is going to be more. Things are looking pretty bad up here,” said Picher Housing Authority Executive Director John Sparkman.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said the tornado caused an unspecified number of injuries and that first responders were working to free people trapped in the rubble.

In Arkansas, which has been beset by severe weather this year, a tornado damaged buildings and pulled down trees in Stuttgart. The Weather Service said that trees were down across a wide area of the southeast Arkansas city and that an elderly woman was reported trapped in her home.

AP-ES-05-10-08 2202EDT