5 people injured after tornado hits Chicago suburbs

Chicago, June 22 At least five people were injured, one critically, when a tornado tore through Chicago's western suburbs, according to authorities in the US city.

The tornado first hit Naperville at around 11.10 p.m. on Sunday night, injuring the five persons, Xinhua news agency quoted Kate Schultz, a spokeswoman for the Naperville city manager's office, as saying on Monday.

Sixteen homes have been deemed uninhabitable by city engineers and at least 10 people have been displaced.

At least 125 home damage reports had come in from Naperville alone, Schultz said.

The tornado then swept to the southwest suburban Village of Woodridge at around 11.30 p.m.

Authorities in Woodridge said no significant injuries had been reported there.

"The tornado travelled east to the Lemont Road area of Woodridge. The Village of Woodridge is assisting those affected by the tornado and assessing the damage," Woodridge police spokesman Jim Hoff said on Monday.

There's evidence the tornado also touched down in Darien, said Matt Friedlein, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Residents near Darien and Burr Ridge, about 20 miles southwest of Chicago, had been urged to take cover around 11.15 p.m.

Few details about damage in the smallest of the three affected suburbs had not been released.

The threat for wind damage remained for a few hours as the line of storms moved over northern Illinois and into northwestern Indiana, until 2 a.m. on Monday when the severe threat was declared over.

The tornado launched debris more than 10,000 feet into the atmosphere with possible wind speeds of 135 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.