Due to heavy weather, an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, collapsed on Friday. Six Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) workers were confirmed dead on Saturday after a succession of tornadoes ripped off the top of a warehouse outside St. Louis, leaving 11-inch thick concrete walls longer than football fields to fall. How many people died in the Amazon warehouse? Where was the Amazon warehouse hit by a tornado? Scroll down to know everything regarding Amazon Warehouse killed;
What happened in the Amazon Warehouse on Friday?
Officials announced Saturday that the number of persons dead when a tornado demolished part of an Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville, Illinois, on Friday night has increased to six. At a news conference Saturday evening, Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford said the National Weather Service confirmed an EF3 tornado touched down at the plant, forcing the building to fall about 150 yards.
Tornadoes and strong storms swept over five states: Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, according to officials.
How many people were killed in the Amazon Warehouse?
According to police, at least six workers were killed and an unknown number were missing after an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, fell Friday night due to heavy weather. During a news conference Saturday, Edwardsville fire chief James Whiteford said that one person was airlifted to a regional hospital and 45 people escaped the wreckage safely.
“We don’t expect that anyone will be surviving at this point,” he said, adding that the rescue operation has now become a recovery operation. The recovery is expected to last an additional three days, with searches conducted during daylight hours.
Who are the 6 employees killed in Amazon Warehouse? Their family
At Saturday evening’s news conference, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker addressed the families of the people killed in the storm.
“There are no words to assuage the pain of losing a loved one and even fewer when that cost and that loss comes so suddenly,” Prtizker said. “Families say goodbye in a routine fashion when their loved ones go off to their jobs. We don’t think that they’ll never come home. It’s devastating.”
Officials are still waiting to announce the identities of the victims, however Clayton Cope’s mother is on the site and has confirmed that her son did not survive. He worked as a maintenance worker at the property, according to her.
Clayton Cope was a maintenance worker at the Amazon fulfillment center in Edwardsville. His mom confirms he died tonight. He was just 29-years-old. His parents and so many others are going through unbearable loss just before Christmas. Please pray for their healing. @FOX2now pic.twitter.com/UOXtMhmQtF
— Amelia Mugavero (@AmeliaMtv) December 11, 2021
The collapse happened around 8:33 p.m. at the warehouse near I-270 and Illinois Route 111, according to the Edwardsville Police Department.
What was the total number of people inside the warehouse?
It is unknown how many people were inside the warehouse at the time of the collapse. Whiteford stated that Amazon did not have an exact count and that the incident occurred during a shift change.
Amazon said it was providing support for “employees and partners in the area.”
“We’re deeply saddened by the news that members of our Amazon family passed away as a result of the storm in Edwardsville, IL,” a representative for Amazon said in a statement to Insider. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone impacted by the storm. We also want to thank all the first responders for their ongoing efforts on scene.”
When was Edwardsville Amazon Warehouse opened? Location
According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Amazon opened two warehouses in Edwardsville in 2016, employing approximately 2,200 people.
When Amazon opened the facilities, “it put us on the map,” Walter Williams, the economic development coordinator for Madison County, which includes Edwardsville, said on Saturday. “When more people saw Amazon here, they started saying, ‘We need to look there.’”
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