Screenshot via WTVF-TV
Multiple people are dead, with “several” still unaccounted for after a “devastating” blast at a Tennessee military explosives facility on Friday morning, according to Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis.
At a news conference on Friday, Davis told reporters that “we do have several people at this time that’re unaccounted for,” adding that he “can confirm that we do have some that are deceased.”
The blast occurred around 7:45 a.m. at Accurate Energetic Systems, LLC, a company that manufactures, stores, and tests explosives for military, aerospace, and commercial use. The facility sits near Bucksnort, roughly midway between Nashville and Memphis, spanning about 1,300 acres across Hickman and Humphreys counties.
Rescue teams were forced to hold back at first due to secondary explosions, which made parts of the property too dangerous to enter, according to Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart in a phone call with The Associated Press. The blast was powerful enough to shake homes miles away, with some residents recording the explosion’s sound on security cameras. Aerial footage from WTVF-TV showed one of the plant’s buildings completely destroyed, with smoking debris and scattered wreckage.
Kristin Coulter, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), told The AP that the agency is aware of injuries from the explosion but isn’t releasing figures yet because the Department of Health has not verified the numbers. She added that TEMA district coordinators were sent to the scene after Hickman County officials requested assistance.
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