Smoke fills the air as debris covers the ground and vehicles after a powerful blast ripped through a military explosives manufacturing plant in Hickman County,Tennessee.APHumphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said it was one of the worst scenes he had ever seen and especially gut-wrenching because he knows three families connected to the tragedy. Davis previously said 18 people were missing.
Aerial footage showed complete devastation at the company’s wooded hilltop site near the town of Bucksnort,some 97 kilometres south-west of Nashville. Debris was scattered over an 800-metre area,and people more than 124 kilometres away felt the explosion,he said.
The company’s website says it processed explosives and ammunition at the eight-building facility.
It’s not immediately known how many people worked at the plant or how many were there when the explosion happened.
Davis said investigators were trying to determine what happened and couldn’t say what caused the explosion. Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations,said Hickman County advanced emergency medical technician David Stewart.
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis described the scene as one of the worst he had ever encountered.APAccurate Energetic Systems,based in nearby McEwen,said on social media that its “thoughts and prayers” were with the families and community impacted.
“We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult conditions,” the post said.
The company has been awarded numerous military contracts,largely by the US Army and Navy,to supply different types of munitions and explosives,according to public records. The products ranged from bulk explosives to landmines and small breaching charges,including C4.
When the explosion occurred,residents in Lobelville,a 20-minute drive from the scene,said they felt their homes shake,and some people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home cameras.
The blast rattled Gentry Stover from his sleep.
“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” he told the Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and I realised about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee posted on X that he was monitoring the situation and asked Tennesseans “to join us in prayer for the families impacted by this tragic incident”.
State representative Jody Barrett,from the neighbouring town of Dickson,was concerned about the potential economic impact,as the plant is a key employer in the area.
“We absolutely heard it at the house,” Barrett said. “It sounded like something going through the roof of our house.”
A small group gathered for a vigil at a nearby park on Friday night,clutching candles as they prayed for the missing and their families and sangAmazing Grace.
The US has a long history of deadly accidents at workplaces,including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and boys in West Virginia in 1907. Several high-profile industrial accidents in the 1960s helped lead president Richard Nixon to sign a law creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) the next year.
In 2019,Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from the US Department of Labour for violations of policies meant to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals,radiation and other irritants,according to citations from OSHA.
In 2014,an explosion occurred at another ammunition facility in the same small community,killing one person and injuring at least three others.