A work-release inmate reportedly escaped from a hospital where he was being treated for injuries following the collapse of a Kentucky candle factory

• Seven inmates were working at a Kentucky candle factory leveled during a tornado.
• One inmate is at large after being released from the hospital, Kentucky State police said.

An inmate working at a Kentucky candle factory that was leveled by a tornado on Friday escaped after being released from the hospital where he was being treated for injuries.

In a statement to Insider, Kentucky State Police said they're searching for Graves County inmate Francisco Starks, 44.

Starks was taken to the Jackson Purchase Medical Center after he was rescued from the building, police said.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear initially said only 40 of the over 100 workers in the factory were rescued, but as of Sunday afternoon the factory said more than 90 have been accounted for, the Associated Press reported. Eight workers have died including a jail employee that was supervising the inmates at the factory.

"We lost 1 of our staff members," said a post shared on Graves County Jail's Facebook page on Saturday night.

Another eight employees are still missing.

A spokesperson for the state police told Insider that Starks most likely either left on foot or got a ride after no one noticed he was an inmate as patients came in and out of the hospital.

Police said they were informed of his disappearance at around 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Graves County jailer George Workman told CNN that seven inmates were working at the candle factory as part of a program for low-security, low-level offenders.

Starks was imprisoned for burglary, car theft, and receiving stolen property, police said.

Insider previously reported that Kyanna Parsons-Perez, a factory employee who was trapped under debris from the collapse said inmates were "working their tails off" to rescue people trapped under the rubble.

"They were helping," she told NBC News. "And to see inmates — because you know they could have used that moment to try to run away or anything — they did not. They were there. They were helping us."

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on Sunday morning that the state's death toll reached 80 people and he anticipates that it will exceed 100. However, by Sunday afternoon, Beshear said the death toll could be as low as 50, the AP reported.