Tornado Strikes Five Midwestern US States... Building Collapses and Numerous Casualties Reported

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] A tornado that occurred in the U.S. Midwest caused buildings to collapse and resulted in multiple fatalities.

Local media including the Associated Press reported on the 10th (local time) that tornadoes caused deaths and building collapses in a total of five states: Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri. It is reported that at least 19 tornadoes occurred in the region on that day.

In Arkansas, a nursing home collapsed due to the strong winds of the tornado, killing at least one person and seriously injuring five others. The identities of the casualties have not yet been disclosed. According to the AP, authorities rescued about 20 people buried in the 87-bed nursing home building. CNN reported that an adult woman also died at a store about 13 km away from the nursing home.

Rescue authorities in Obion County, Tennessee, also reported that two people died due to the storm. The specific circumstances of their accidents have not been revealed.

In Edwardsville, Illinois, part of Amazon’s logistics center collapsed, trapping workers inside. It is known that about 100 people were working at the logistics center at the time. Although the exact damage has not been tallied, local rescue authorities stated on Facebook that "multiple casualties have occurred."

In Mayfield, Kentucky, workers were trapped in a collapsed candle factory, and authorities are conducting rescue operations, but the power outage has slowed the work. CNN reported that as of that day, 157,000 people across six states were experiencing power outages.

The tornado, believed to have formed in Arkansas, traveled a distance of 100 miles (about 160 km), causing damage in various areas, according to The Washington Post.

Additionally, the U.S. National Weather Service stated that debris was observed flying up to 20,000 feet (about 6,100 m) into the air due to the tornado. In some areas, wind speeds reached 31 m/s.

This tornado is expected to be recorded as the first case in history to strike five states at once. Typically, in December, strong tornadoes are rare due to the lack of "energy sources" such as warm air, but The Washington Post reported that this tornado occurred as warm air collided with a cold front in the Midwest region.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.