Jeff Bezos ‘heartbroken’ as tornado kills 6 at Amazon warehouse
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos said he
was ‘heartbroken’ Saturday after at least six people were killed at an Amazon
warehouse in the US state of Illinois when it was struck by a tornado.
‘The news from Edwardsville is
tragic,’ Bezos tweeted about the town where the facility was located.
‘We’re heartbroken over the loss
of our teammates there, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families
and loved ones.’
The warehouse was struck by a
series of tornadoes that ripped across six US states, killing more than 80
people in total in what president Joe Biden said was likely to be ‘one of the
largest’ storm outbreaks in history.
Up to 100 Amazon employees
working a night shift ahead of Christmas are believed to have been trapped when
the warehouse collapsed, and it is not clear how many may still be trapped.
Earlier Saturday, Edwardsville
fire chief James Whiteford told reporters that 45 people made it out of the
building safely, one had to be airlifted to hospital for treatment, and at
least six had died.
But he said the operation had
turned from rescue to focus ‘only on recovery,’ fueling fears the toll could
yet rise.
‘All of Edwardsville should know
that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them and will be by their side
through this crisis,’ Bezos tweeted.
‘We extend our fullest gratitude to all the incredible first responders who have worked so tirelessly at the site.’