Tennessee plant explosion latest: 19 still missing after deadly blast at military supplier plant rocks community
At least 19 people are unaccounted, with some feared dead, after a “massive” blast rocked a military explosives plant in Tennessee on Friday, officials said.
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis did not say how many people were killed but called the 19 missing people “souls” as he became emotional during a press briefing hours after the explosion leveled an Accurate Energetic Systems facility in McEwen just before 8 a.m.
The sheriff said it was one of the most devastating scenes he’s ever seen. When asked to describe the building, he responded, “There’s nothing to describe. It’s gone.”
The cause of the blast was not immediately known, and the investigation could take days, the sheriff said.
Aerial footage of the aftermath by WTVF-TV showed the smoldering wreckage left behind. Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations, Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart said. But as of Friday afternoon, there was further danger of explosions, and the scene was under control.
Accurate Energetic Systems, which makes and tests explosives at an eight-building facility about 60 miles southwest of Nashville, has paused all operations at the facility.
