KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) - A tornado that spun across the Oklahoma-Missouri border killed several people as severe storms raked the central part of the country Saturday, taking at least 11 lives, mangling buildings and trapping people in rubble in the storm-weary region.

At least six people were killed as the tornado flattened the northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher before the funnel struck about 15 miles (24 kilometers) away near Seneca, Missouri, and killed at least three, authorities said.

The death toll in Oklahoma could climb, said state Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten. The tornado in Picher - a depressed and pollution-scarred mining town that many residents had already fled - caused major damage in a 20-block area, she said.

"I know they are going through the rubble, trying to find people missing," she said. "There are numerous injuries."

At least five people died in southwestern Missouri after the storms plowed through, the National Weather Service said, including the three people who died after the Picher tornado hit near Seneca, said meteorologist Bill Davis.

Other tornadoes were reported in southeastern Oklahoma.