Mayfield (US), December 11
At least 70 persons were feared dead in Kentucky after tornadoes and severe weather tore through multiple states and caused catastrophic damage.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear today said at a news conference that the death toll might exceed 100. “This has been the most devastating tornado event in our state’s history,” Beshear said.
The storms hit a candle factory in Kentucky, an Amazon facility in Illinois and a nursing home in Arkansas. Beshear said about 110 persons were in the Mayfield factory when the tornado hit.
Kentucky State Police Trooper Sarah Burgess said search and rescue teams were going through the rubble Saturday, but didn’t yet have a number for how many have died. “We just can’t confirm a number right now because we are still out there working, and we have so many agencies involved in helping us,” Burgess said.
She said rescue crews were using heavy equipment to move rubble at the candle factory in western Kentucky. Coroners were called to the scene and bodies were recovered, but she didn’t know how many. She said it could take a day and potentially longer to remove all of the rubble.
President Joe Biden tweeted on Saturday that he was briefed on the situation and pledged the affected states would “have what they need as the search for survivors and damage assessments continue”. Kyana Parsons-Perez, an employee at the factory, was trapped under 5 feet (about 1.5 meters) of debris for at least two hours until rescuers managed to free her. — AP
(The article is generated from feeds via CT, The Chenab Times staff didn’t write this news.)
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