(CNN) -- A tornado almost a mile wide tore through Mississippi on Saturday, killing at least 10 people and causing significant injuries and damage as it raked cities from the central western border with Louisiana northeastward to Alabama. Two of the dead were children and one was a 3-month-old baby, according to Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) spokesman Jeff Rent. The death toll is expected to rise as rescue crews reach hard-hit areas where structures have been badly damaged, said another MEMA spokesman, Greg Flynn. Five of the dead were from Choctaw County, in the north central part of of the state, four were from Yazoo County, north of Jackson, and one was from Holmes County, also in the north central Mississippi, he said.
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NEW: At least 10 have been killed, including a 3-month-old, state emergency official says
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Survivors share harrowing accounts of encounter with twister
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Five of the dead were in Choctaw County, in north central Mississippi
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President Obama has "been briefed on the tragedy in Mississippi," spokesman says
The storm system struck @placeholder before it moved into Mississippi.