Bezos snub amid Amazon tragedy
Jeff Bezos was blasted Saturday for cheering on his latest group of space tourists after the deaths of at least six workers in an St. Louis-area Amazon warehouse hit by a tornado Friday.
The Amazon founder greeted former NFL star Michael Strahan and the other five members of the latest crew of his New Shepard rocket after the 10minute flight landed in West Texas. “Welcome back, guys,” he said, as he opened the capsule door after their return.
Prior to the flight, he posted a photo on Instagram of himself with the space flight crew and the comment, “Happy crew this morning in the training center” — but he waited hours to issue a statement on the tragedy at the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Ill.
“It’s really sickening if you want my honest opinion,” Twitter user Joshua Dyer posted over video of the landing celebration. “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 space men for 10 minutes. Unreal.”
Amazon reps said early Saturday: “Our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies are with the victims.”
Finally, at 9 p.m. Saturday, Bezos (inset) wrote on Twitter that “the news from Edwardsville is tragic. We’re heartbroken over the loss of our teammates there. All of Edwardsville should know that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them and will be by their side through this crisis.”
Officials said they don’t expect to find any more survivors in the warehouse, about 15 miles east of St. Louis. About 45 workers made it out of the warehouse alive, officials said. One of the dead was Clayton Cope, a maintenance worker whose mother confirmed his identity to Fox 2 St. Louis.