The “mass casualty incident” was first picked up on emergency service scanners with fire and police services quickly arriving on scene. According to local reports between 100 to 150 workers remain trapped in the building.
First responders are working as fast as they can to rescue people from the centre.
The Edwardsville Fire Department, St. Clair County Emergency Services and multiple other fire and rescue agencies have responded to the structure collapse in Madison County.
A radio broadcast from Edwardsville Fire Department suggested portions of the roof are gone, causing between 100 and 200 yards of concrete walls to collapse into the building.
At time of writing it is not known how many people are injured, but authorities declared it a “mass casualty incident”.
The incident in Edwardsville came after a tornado warning was announced just hours prior.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the warning was issued across the border between Illinois and Missouri with forecasts predicting gale force winds of up to 75 mph and possible hail “the size of ping pong balls”.
National Weather Service (NWS) radar confirmed that one tornado touched down between Pontoon Beach and Edwardsville.
In neighbouring Missouri, one video shows the tornado picked up and threw multiple semis thrown across the i-55 interstate.
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