Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Authorities were investigating a blast that destroyed an explosives plant in a rural area tennesseeAs the families of 18 people missing and feared dead waited anxiously for answers on Saturday.
The explosion Friday morning at Accurate Energetic Systems, a company that supplies and researches explosives for the military, scattered debris over at least a half-mile (800 meters) area and was felt by residents more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) away, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said.
Aerial footage Friday showed the company’s hilltop site smoldering and filled with smoke, leaving only a heap of twisted metal, charred shells of cars and heaps of debris.
Davis, who described it as one of the worst scenes he had ever seen, said that many people were killed. But he declined to say how many of the 18 people were missing, referring to them as “souls” because authorities were still talking to family.
“Right now we need our communities to come together and recognize that we have lost a lot of people,” he said.
The company’s website says it processes explosives and ammunition at a facility consisting of eight buildings nestled in wooded hills in the Beauxnort region, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) to the southwest. nashvilleIt was not immediately known how many people worked at the plant or how many people were present at the time of the explosion.
Davis said investigators were trying to determine what happened and could not say what caused the explosion.
Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, said in a post on social media Friday that its “thoughts and prayers” were with the affected families and the community.
“We express our gratitude to all of the first responders who are working tirelessly under difficult circumstances,” the post said.
The company has been awarded numerous military contracts, primarily by the US Army and navyAccording to public records, supplying various types of munitions and explosives. Products range from bulk explosives to small infraction charges including landmines and C4.
When the explosion occurred, residents of Lobelville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shaking, and some captured the loud sound of the explosion on their home cameras.
The explosion woke Gentry Stover from his sleep.
“I felt like the house had collapsed on me,” he told The Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and about 30 seconds after waking up I realized it must have been him.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee posted on the social platform X that he was monitoring the situation and asked “Tennessees to join us in prayer for the families affected by this tragic incident.”
A small group gathered for a vigil in a nearby park Friday night, holding candles as they prayed for the missing and their families and sang “Amazing Grace.”
The US has a long history of fatal accidents at workplaces, including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and boys. West Virginia In 1907. Several high-profile industrial accidents in the 1960s helped lead President richard nixon To sign legislation creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration next year.
In 2019, Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from the U.S. Department of Labor for violations of policies designed to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and other irritants, according to OSHA citations.
In 2014, another ammunition facility in the same small community exploded, killing one person and injuring at least three others.
,
Associated Press writers Sarah Broomfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Kimberly Kruse in Providence, Rhode Island; and Hailey Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.