At least six people were killed when a warehouse of the e-commerce giant Amazon collapsed due to the tornadoes that hit the central and southern part of the USA, the head of the fire department of Edwardsville (Illinois), where the building is located, announced on Saturday.
“We have confirmed that 45 staff members were able to leave the building, one of whom had to be airlifted to a local hospital for treatment, while six were killed,” James Whiteford told a news conference.
The head of the fire brigade in the city of 25,000 inhabitants also clarified that the search and rescue operation was terminated earlier yesterday and that the search has now entered the phase of searching for corpses.
This announcement leaves the concern that the report of the victims of the collapse will become even heavier in the next twenty-four hours. The operation is expected to last another three days.
Much of the roof of the facility is missing; walls inside the building have collapsed.
An Amazon spokesman told AFP he was “deeply saddened” by the news that “members of our family (including the company’s staff) have lost their lives” due to the extreme weather in Edwardsville.
“We continue to offer support to our employees and our partners in the region,” she said.
The death toll from tornadoes and heavy rains in five US states has risen to at least 83. There are fears that it will exceed 100 victims.
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