'Our hearts are broken for the parents': Seven children found drowned in school amid fears 24 more classmates have perished after tornado pulverizes Oklahoma City suburb killing at least 91

The desperate search continued overnight for two dozen Plaza Towers Elementary School children feared dead after yesterday's monstrous tornado, which already took the lives of seven of their classmates.
Under flood lights, emergency crews dug through debris and used jackhammers to tear away concrete, praying to recover the bodies of up to 24 students they believe are buried under the rubble and give their distraught parents answers, after hopes of finding them alive faded.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin expressed her grief on behalf of her state for the parents of the missing children, aged between five and eight, as the death toll across the heavily-populated Oklahoma City suburb of Moore escalated to 91 people, with some 233 injured.
'Our hearts are broken for the parents that are wondering about the state of their children that had been in the schools that have been hit today,' Fallin said. 'I know that there are families wondering where their loved ones are.'
She added that rescuers were 'looking under every single piece of debris' for the missing.
On Monday evening, the bodies of seven children who drowned in a pool of water were found under the flattened Plaza Towers Elementary School building after the two mile-wide tornado barreled through the Moore area at around 3pm on Monday leaving devastation in its wake.
Rescue teams, including 80 members of the National Guard and search dogs, had reported hearing cries for help from beneath the rubble of the flattened school but the screams reportedly stopped at around 6:30 p.m. local time.
The giant twister roared through the Oklahoma City suburb obliterating entire neighborhoods and pulverizing a 30-square-mile stretch with winds up to 200 mph. Block after block lay in ruins. Homes were crushed into piles of broken wood. Cars and trucks were left crumpled on the roadside.
Frantic parents rushed to Plaza Towers Elementary moments after it was pummeled by the storm that has been given a preliminary rating of at least EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale but they were kept back so search teams could hear any survivors calling for help through the rubble.
The families were later taken to a nearby church where they continued the harrowing wait for news of their children. Some, praying their little ones had made it out alive, posted photographs of their children on Facebook and Twitter, desperately hoping they'd be reunited.

Horror: Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City. The desperate search continued overnight for two dozen children feared dead after yesterday's monstrous tornado, which already took the lives of seven of their classmates

Shock: Two girls stand in rubble surveying the scene of devastation following the horrific tornado

Survivors: A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, and passed along to rescuers

Brave: Two boys are pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma

A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School

Desperate: A young girl is pulled from beneath the wall by rescuers as they desperately search for more survivors at the school

Injured: Scores of young children were hurt in the monster twister that laid to the land. The walking wounded were helped to a nearby triage centre

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City

Heroes: Rescue workers dig through the rubble of a collapsed wall at the Plaza Tower Elementary School to free trapped students

Help: A woman carries a child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore

The number of children killed has not yet become clear as rescuers continue to move the rubble

Lucky ones: A young family comes out of underground bunker after the tornado to scenes of devastation

People look through the wreckage of their neighborhood after the tornado devastated the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday

According to reports, a number of the 24 missing students were located in churches and triage centers lat on Monday, though it's unclear how many.

At least 91 people in the area of Moore, Oklahoma, have now been confirmed dead, with more than 20 of those children. The 20 youngsters include the seven Plaza Towers students as well as a three-month-old baby and a four-year-old child. Another three adults were killed at a 7-Eleven.
Also among those killed, is a family of four with a baby near 4th St. and Telephone Rd. in Moore. Officials said the family tried to take shelter in a freezer.
According to KFOR, more than 233 injured residents had flooded into emergency rooms, including more than 70 children - though these numbers continue to rise.
After the monster tornado struck, around 80 National Guard members were deployed and first responders with dogs were drafted in to help search the debris at Plaza Towers elementary, hoping for a miracle.
Crews used jackhammers and sledgehammers to tear away concrete, and chunks were being thrown to the side as the workers dug. National Guard choppers were being used across Moore overnight to detect body heat of survivors trapped under collapsed buildings and other rubble so they could direct rescuers.
Devastating aerial images taken immediately after the tornado show Plaza Towers - as well as hundreds of homes and businesses - completely leveled with cars thrown into the school grounds by powerful storm. Students who were inside the building described clinging to the walls of the hallway where many of them huddled during the storm as the twister battered the school. Others cowered in closets or bathrooms to protect themselves.

One sixth grade boy named Brady told ABC affiliate KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City that he and other students took cover in the boys' bathroom.

Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on them but they were underneath so that kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean they were trapped in there,' he said.Frightened third graders were being pulled from the wreckage alive this afternoon as rescue workers passed the children down a human chain before taking them to a triage center set up in the school's parking lot.
Staff said there had been at least 75 people in the school of around 500 students when the tornado hit. The 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students were taken from the school to a church before the twister barreled through. One teacher said she had laid on six children to protect them. It is believed another teacher put her life at risk to cover three students and suffered serious injuries. It is unclear whether she survived.
President Barack Obama declared that a disaster existed in the State of Oklahoma and called Governor Fallin to offer any kind of assistance the devastated areas required. The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie.
Fallin earlier told Oklahomans to 'stay away and let the our search and rescue teams and families get in there,' referring to the pulverized school
Many land lines to stricken areas were down and cellphone traffic was congested. Poor cell phone reception was making it difficult for frantic families to connect with each other but a website Safeandwell.com has been set up to assist people who fear for their loved ones.

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