Many trapped after Amazon warehouse roof collapse near U.S. city of St.
Louis
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[December 11, 2021]
(Reuters) -Many people were trapped
after a roof partially collapsed at an Amazon.com Inc warehouse near the
U.S. city of St. Louis late on Friday, after tornadoes and strong storms
roared through the area, local authorities said.
The Colinsville Emergency Management Agency said it was a "mass casualty
incident", adding that multiple people were trapped inside the warehouse
in Edwardsville, southern Illinois.
In a posting on Facebook, the agency did not give details, and there was
no immediate word on how many people had been injured or killed.
Emergency service vehicles surrounded the scene.
Drone footage from the scene showed rescue workers picking through a
huge area of debris in the pre-dawn darkness.
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An Amazon spokesperson said the company was assessing the situation and
damage at the facility.
One woman outside, Sarah Bierman, said she was very worried about her
husband, who works at the warehouse.
"I talked to him about eight o'clock tonight, a little before I texted
him, and he was returning to the warehouse to drop his van off," she
told a reporter.
"And I haven't heard from him since, I just heard through the news and
we live in Edwardsville; we lost power. So I decided to come down here
to see what was going on, and I had no idea the building looked that
bad. And I'm just; I'm worried sick," she said.
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![](../images/121121pics/news_f39.jpg)
Emergency vehicles surround the site of an Amazon distribution
warehouse with a collapsed roof, after storms hit the area of
Edwardsville, Illinois, U.S. December 10, 2021. REUTERS/Lawrence
Bryant
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker tweeted: "My prayers are with the
people of Edwardsville tonight, and I've reached out to the mayor to
provide any needed state resources."
The U.S. National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings on
Friday night for areas in several states including Arkansas,
Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois.
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Njuwa Maina in
Washington Editing by Frances Kerry and Edmund Blair)
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