Jeff Bezos slammed for celebrating space trip amid Amazon warehouse collapse that killed 6

After he was blasted for cheering on his latest group of space tourists around the same time when at least six Amazon employees died as a powerful tornado ripped into a warehouse near St. Louis, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has issued a response. Amazon’s Edwardsville, Illinois, facility was hit about 8:38 pm central time and the employees were stranded for several hours underneath the rubble of the 500,000-square-foot, firm’s fire chief James Whiteford informed the news agencies. The warehouse’s roof had completely blown off and the building collapsed into debris. 

'Welcome back, guys,' Amazon boss cheers 

Rescue authorities had declared that there was “no hope” of finding any survivors as the damage was so intense. Making no mention of the deaths of as many as six workers in the Amazon warehouse, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos was greeting and cheering the former NFL star Michael Strahan and at least five crew members of the New Shepard rocket. 

“Welcome back, guys,” he was heard saying as he posted photos and videos on Instagram, attracting backlash online. “Happy crew this morning in the training center,” he wrote in the caption, instantly inviting condemnation on social media for not mentioning the tragedy. “You should worry about the tornado situation more,” a commenter wrote deriding the Amazon boss for not making mention about Edwardsville, Illinois death of his employees. “It’s really sickening if you want my honest opinion,”another commenter wrote.

“Jeff Bezos has said absolutely nothing on the lives lost at his facility in Illinois after a catastrophic tornado left numerous workers trapped. But sure, go play wannabe spacemen for 10 minutes. Unreal,” one other said. 

Another condemned the Amazon boss, saying, that Bezos was in West Texas at the time of the tragedy. “His employee's 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!”

Hours later, the Amazon boss responded saying that he was "heartbroken" Saturday after at least six Amazon workers died in a warehouse tornado accident. “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 tweeted. The CEO further added that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them, and “it will be by their side through this crisis.” “We extend our fullest gratitude to all the incredible first responders who have worked so tirelessly at the site,” he added.