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Tornado Hits Amazon Warehouse With Workers 'Trapped Inside'

Tornado Hits Amazon Warehouse With Workers 'Trapped Inside'

Emergency crews are sorting through rubble after the building partially collapsed

Severe storms and tornadoes have torn across several states in the US, killing at least five people and reportedly trapping workers inside an Amazon warehouse.

Five people have died in Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas after buildings collapsed, while a ‘mass casualty incident’ has occurred at the Amazon warehouse near Edwardsville in Illinois. 

Emergency crews were searching for workers after reports of people trapped inside an Amazon warehouse, after its roof collapsed from storm damage. At least 100 employees were thought to have been working the night shift at the time of the incident.

Jenna Rae, from KMOV TV station, said ‘about a third’ of the warehouse has been torn down by strong winds and the tornado. 

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A woman who was on the phone to a family member who was inside the warehouse at the time the tornado hit said: “He was on the phone with me while it was happening.

“The tornado was hitting the back of the building, the trucks were coming in, I told him to jump out the truck and duck. 

"We watched the building go up, stuff hitting the cars, I told him I was on my way.”

At least 100 emergency vehicles descended on the Amazon warehouse, where a wall that was about the length of a football field collapsed, as did the roof above it.

Today (11 December) rescue crews were still sorting through the rubble to determine if anyone was trapped inside.

Amazon spokesperson Richard Rocha said: "The safety and well-being of our employees and partners is our top priority right now. 

"We're assessing the situation and will share additional information when it's available."

LADbible has contacted Amazon and the Edwardsville Fire Department for a comment.

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Elsewhere three people died in Tennessee, and one person died and several were injured when an apparent tornado hit an Arkansas nursing home.

A tornado hit the Monette Manor nursing home in Arkansas on Friday, killing one person and trapping 20 people inside as the building collapsed, judge Marvin Day told the Associated Press.

Day said: “It looks like it’s pretty much destroyed."

In Missouri, workers at the weather service office had to take shelter as a tornado passed near their office in Weldon Spring.

One person died and two others were injured in building collapses near the towns of Defiance and New Melle, both just a few miles from the weather service office.

The storms in Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas were among several places in the Midwest that reported tornadoes spotted or on the ground.

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock

Topics: US News