LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Unrelenting tornadoes have swept through parts of the South and Midwest killing at least 11 people, collapsing the roof of a packed theater during a heavy metal concert in Illinois, and leaving small towns and big cities throughout the region shocked on Saturday by the damage.

Tornadoes touched down into the night, laying waste to homes and businesses and stripping bark and limbs off trees, as part of a sprawling storm system that also brought wildfires to the southern Plains and blizzard conditions to the Upper Midwest.

At least one person was killed and more than two dozen were hurt, some critically, in the Little Rock area, authorities said. The town of Wynne in northeastern Arkansas was also devastated, and officials reported two dead there, along with destroyed homes and people trapped in the debris. The storms also killed three people in Sullivan County, Indiana.

Authorities said a theater roof collapsed during a tornado in Belvidere, Illinois, killing one person and injuring 28, five of them severely. The collapse occurred at the Apollo Theatre during a heavy metal concert in the town, located about 113 kilometers northwest of Chicago.

The Little Rock tornado tore first through neighborhoods in the western part of the city and shredded a small shopping center that included a Kroger grocery store. It then crossed the Arkansas River into North Little Rock and surrounding cities, where widespread damage was reported to homes, businesses and vehicles. — Euronews