State Opens Criminal Probe After Factory Workers Say They Weren’t Allowed To Leave As Flood Waters Rose

NBC News reports:

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the state’s criminal investigation agency, said Wednesday it is looking into allegations against an Erwin plastics factory where several workers died and some went missing after they were swept away by floodwaters from Hurricane Helene.

Relatives of the missing and deceased workers and factory employees who survived have alleged they were made to show up to work despite the hurricane moving through the area. Some have said they were denied the chance to leave before the floodwaters from heavy rainfall inundated the plastics factory’s parking lot and cut off their escape routes.

Robert “Robby” Jarvis, one of the surviving employees, told NBC News his requests to leave were denied and he was told instead to move his car, which he did twice.

Read the full article. Survivors speak out in the video below.