Jeff Bezos responded to a tornado that resulted in the deaths of at least six people at an Amazon warehouse after its collapse in Edwardsville, Illinois, on Friday. Bezos acknowledged the tragedy after being slammed by social media users who commented on his initial silence.
“The news from Edwardsville is tragic. We’re heartbroken over the loss of our teammates there, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones,” Bezos wrote late on Saturday.
“All of Edwardsville should know that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them and will be by their side through this crisis,” Bezos added in a follow-up tweet. “We extend our fullest gratitude to all the incredible first responders who have worked so tirelessly at the site.”
Bezos issued his statement hours after he was blasted on social media for initially appearing silent on the Amazon warehouse tragedy. Instead, the billionaire was seen posting to Instagram about the latest flight of his Blue Origin spacecraft.
“Happy crew this morning in the training center…” the Amazon founder wrote in an Instagram caption on Friday.
“You should worry about the tornado situation more,” one social media user commented.
“Will any of your amazon workers ever take the flight?” another asked.
“Pretty remarkable that Jeff Bezos did not fly to Illinois to support the families of the victims who died in the Amazon warehouse,” one Twitter user said.
“Really struggling with my rage since Jeff Bezos blasted his major carbon polluting rocket this morning after Amazon workers died in a rare December tornado last night,” another wrote.
“SHAME ON JEFF BEZOS!!! He was in West TEXAS today! His employees lives were lost! He could have taken a 1 1/2 hour flight to St Louis which is only a 30-minute drive from the airport to visit his poorly constructed climate change Amazon warehouse that was destroyed by a tornado!” another exclaimed.
Search and rescue officials are reportedly still at the scene of the collapsed Amazon warehouse, where they are trying to account for those who have not been recovered.
Hours before Bezos issued his statement on Twitter, an Amazon spokesperson told Fox News, “We’re deeply saddened by the news that members of our Amazon family passed away as a result of the storm in Edwardsville, IL.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone impacted by the storm,” the spokesperson added. “We also want to thank all the first responders for their ongoing efforts on scene. We’re continuing to provide support to our employees and partners in the area.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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