The explosion occurred Friday at Accurate Energetic Systems, a manufacturing company in rural Tennessee, a southern state in the United States. People reported hearing and feeling the explosion several miles away.
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said it was one of the most horrific scenes he had ever seen. He did not say how many people were killed, but called the 19 missing “souls” and said officials were still talking to their families.
The company manufactures and tests explosives in an eight-building facility spread over wooded hills in the Bucksnault area, about 97 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Nashville, according to its website.
The cause of the explosion, which Davis called “catastrophic,” was not immediately known and the investigation could take several days, the sheriff said.
Aerial footage of the aftermath aired by news channel WTVF-TV showed the explosion apparently destroyed one of the facility’s hilltop buildings, leaving only smoldering debris and a burned-out vehicle shell.
Gray Collier, a spokesman for the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency, said there was no longer any danger of an explosion and the scene was under control by Friday afternoon.
Hickman County Senior EMT David Stewart said by phone that emergency personnel were initially unable to enter the plant because of the continuing explosion. No details of casualties were given.
MNA/