The confirmed death toll from Friday’s devastating tornado outbreak continued to rise Monday afternoon. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced at least 74 people were killed in his state, which he said suffered “the worst tornado event” in its history.
The governor said Monday morning that it may take weeks before the final death toll would be known. Dozens of people remain unaccounted for. The severe weather and tornadoes affected seven other states, killing at least 12 additional people.
In Kentucky, at least eight people were killed in a candle factory in Mayfield, where more than 100 workers were inside when a tornado struck.
“Everybody was falling to the bottom of the building,” Barbara Tate, an employee at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory, told CBS News. “All you heard was screaming and hollering and people howling for ‘help me, help me.’ And you crying and want to help them, but you can’t help them because you’re trying to help yourself because you don’t know you’re going to live or die.”
