At least 23 people have been killed and dozens of others were injured after a tornado ripped through the southern US state of Mississippi.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says four people are missing in the aftermath of the twister that struck the area on Friday night.

Search and rescue operations are underway. State authorities say that the number of casualties could rise. The mayor of hard-hit Rolling Fork told CNN that his city is gone.

NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is still studying where the tornado actually touched down as it was also sighted in multiple places in neighboring Alabama.

A website that tracks US power outages showed about 70,000 households in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee were still without electricity on Saturday morning.