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Friday night’s series of deadly Midwest tornados ripped an Amazon warehouse in Illinois to shreds, leaving at least six dead and one wounded. An unknown number of others may be trapped in the rubble, but local officials said Saturday evening that they didn’t believe anyone was left alive.
“We’re now focused solely on recovery,” Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford said at a press conference. “We don’t expect that anyone could be surviving at this time.”
About 45 people were rescued from the building. It is unclear how many people are missing, Whiteford said.
Amazon officials were unable to determine how many workers were in the facility when the tornado struck around 8:30 p.m. Friday, he said, because it was during a shift change, and because delivery drivers come and go throughout their shifts.
The fulfillment center, about 15 miles east of St. Louis, was one of numerous buildings damaged overnight as a series of powerful tornadoes ripped across five states, killing at least 70 and leaving hundreds of miles of destruction in their wake.
Whiteford said the twister caused 40-foot-tall, 11-inch-thick walls to collapse, taking the roof of that section of the massive warehouse down as well. About 150 yards – a football field and a half – in the center of the building was destroyed, the fire chief said. He said there were two areas in the building where most of the survivors were located. It did not have a basement.
Among the victims was Clayton Cope, a 29-year-old Amazon maintenance worker whose mother confirmed to Fox 2 St. Louis that he was among the victims.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker praised first responders for reaching the site quickly and working through the night trying to save victims.
Speaking directly to family members of those who were killed, the Democrat said, “There are no words to assuage the pain of losing a loved one and even fewer when that loss and that cost comes so suddenly.”
“It’s devastating and I cannot imagine the pain that you are feeling at this moment,” Pritzker added.
The storm system hit many other communities, including five Illinois counties, the governor said, but none sustained damage as severe and there were no additional deaths in the state.
Another tornado touched down near Defiance, Missouri, which is located in St. Charles County, about 50 miles west of St. Louis. At least one person died and two others were injured there. Homes were destroyed across a broad swath in the region.
“This is a difficult end to a difficult year,” Pritzker said.