Dhaka, Dec. 11 -- Some 50 people are "likely" to have been killed in a devastating outbreak of tornadoes that ripped through Kentucky and several other U.S. states late Friday and early Saturday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said.

He told local TV station WLKY that the number of dead could be "significantly north of that", the Washington Post reported, reports Reuters.

"The reports are really heartbreaking," he said, according to the Post. It added that a spokeswoman for the state's emergency management service said that rescue officials had not confirmed figures for deaths or injuries as of early Saturday.

Some of the worst destruction was in Mayfield, in western Kentucky, the New York Times reported. About 110 people were inside a ...