Rescue teams using body-heat sensors have been searching wrecked houses in a bid to find survivors of a tornado which is reported to have killed at least 32 people in Alabama and six others in neighbouring states.

Mary Buckaloo of Jefferson County's emergency: "It looks like we've had a nuclear attack down here." (0' 16")

Encouraged by finding a nine-month-old baby alive, search crews in Alabama said they would continue working through the night until they were confident everyone was accounted for.

The tornado struck with winds up to 250mph. Many people in this Bible Belt area were at church services.

In Alabama, nearly all of those killed were in small communities west of Birmingham, where some houses looked as if they had exploded. Dozens of people are being treated in hospital, with several in a critical condition.

Throughout the area, wooden homes were left in splinters, and brick houses were reduced to foundation rubble. Overturned cars and household furniture littered streets and yards while fallen trees and power lines blocked roads.

Tornado survivors in Alabama: "I heard it about a mile away" (0' 23")

In the small community of Rock Creek, a mother and her two sons aged four and eight were killed after the walls of the basement in which they were sheltering collapsed. A nearby church was later converted into a trauma centre.

Fob James, Alabama's Governor, said 150 homes had been destroyed and 300 heavily damaged. President Bill Clinton declared parts of Alabama and Georgia disaster areas, clearing the way for federal aid.

Many victims were injured while sheltering inside buildings

Under the disaster declaration, the US Government will shoulder 75% of costs for removing debris and some other emergency services.

Temporary housing, low-interest loans and other aid will be available to people whose homes or businesses were lost or damaged. Vice President Al Gore is due to visit both states on Friday.

Parts of Alabama and Georgia have been declared disaster zones

The high winds, heavy rain and hail also left a trail of destruction in Georgia. Two people died in the Dunwoody area north-east of Atlanta, one when a tree fell on a house.

A soldier was also killed and six other people injured, two seriously, at the nearby Fort Stewart army base, according to the Pentagon. The tornado caused heavy damage to the base, wrecking a building and several power pylons, a spokesman added.

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