Earlier on Friday, an Amazon warehouse in Illinois was torn apart by a tornado, trapping 100 workers.
Washington:
A tornado has killed at least 50 people in the southeastern US state of Kentucky, its governor told reporters, as the storm devastated large parts of the country.
Governor Andy Beshear said several counties in Kentucky were devastated, with the strongest storm to hit 200 miles through the state.
“I’m afraid there are more than 50 dead… probably somewhere close to somewhere between 70 and 100, it’s devastating,” he said, adding that it was “the most severe tornado event in Kentucky history.”
The governor said there were “massive casualties” when a roof collapsed at a candle factory in the city of Mayfield.
“Before midnight I declared a state of emergency,” Beshear said.
This tornado came in the form of hurricane havoc in many states of America.
A tornado ripped through a huge Amazon warehouse in the US state of Illinois on Friday, with local media reporting about 100 workers stranded, officials said.
Officers worked early Saturday to rescue workers – a third of whom fell into the rubble – who were on orders processing night shifts ahead of the Christmas holidays.
The Collinsville Emergency Management Agency described it as a “mass casualty incident” with “many subjects trapped in an Amazon warehouse”.
A tornado warning was in place in the area at the time of the incident.
Footage shared on US news channels and social media of the Edwardsville Amazon Warehouse showed a large portion of the facility’s roof torn apart, while a wall collapsed into the building, with debris scattered across the site.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured or killed.
My prayers are with the people of Edwardsville tonight, and I reach out to the mayor to provide the state with any necessary resources.
Our @ILStatePolice And @readylinois Both are coordinating closely with the local authorities and I will continue to monitor the situation.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) December 11, 2021
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said: “My prayers are with the people of Edwardsville tonight.”
“Our Illinois State Police and Illinois Emergency Management Agency are both coordinating closely with local officials and I will continue to monitor the situation,” he said.
In a statement sent to local media, Amazon spokesman Richard Rocha said, “The safety and well-being of our employees and partners is our top priority right now. We are assessing the situation and will share additional information as it becomes available.”
In Arkansas, one person was killed and 20 others trapped after a tornado at the Monet Manor nursing home, US media reported.
Craighead County Officer Marvin Day told local news channels that rescuers successfully pulled people trapped in the building, while the structure was “significantly destroyed”.
In Tennessee, at least two people were killed in hurricane-related incidents, an emergency management official told local media.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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