Two men died at an Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore after a tornado struck the region on Friday, causing a partial collapse of a 50-foot wall at the facility.
The contract workers were identified by The Baltimore City Fire Department as Andrew Lindsay, 54, and Israel Espana Argote, 37.
The Baltimore Sun reports that it was the first fatal tornado — described as a “low-level EF-1 tornado with winds up to 105 miles per hour — to hit Maryland since 2002.
“There was stuff falling everywhere, you could see the walls were caving in,” Amazon employee Brandon McBride told WBAL. “Rain was pouring everywhere; all the packages were soaked. It’s unreal.”
Here’s a report from WJZ in Baltimore.
Saddened to learn of 2 deaths following the collapse of a building due to severe weather in Southeast Baltimore. @MDMEMA is coordinating closely with Baltimore City officials, & state agencies are assisting the city as they clean up and repair the damage. https://t.co/Mg1Y1KSBNA
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) November 3, 2018
Dave Clark, senior vice president of operations at Amazon, issued this statement via Twitter:
updated- Last night severe weather impacted one of our Baltimore facilities resulting in 2 fatalities. Thank you to the emergency response teams who have been working through the night. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those impacted by yesterday’s tragic event.
— Dave Clark (@davehclark) November 3, 2018
