An explosion at a military ammunition manufacturing plant in Hickman County, Tennessee, left several people dead and missing on Friday, local authorities confirmed. “We do have several people at this time unaccounted for. We are trying to be mindful of families and that situation,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said at a press conference. “We do have some that are deceased.”
At least 13 people are missing, Hickman County Mayor Jim Bates told ABC News.
The explosion occurred early Friday morning at the Accurate Energetic Systems facility in Hickman County, about 50 miles from Nashville. The company, founded in 1980, explains on its website that it manufactures and tests explosives at an eight-building facility spread across wooded hills near Bucksnort, southwest of Nashville. “We specialize in the development, manufacture, handling, and storage of a diverse array of energetic products and explosives for military, aerospace, and commercial demolition markets,” it explains.
The explosion occurred in the morning. After the initial blast, there were several subsequent explosions, which delayed the arrival of rescue teams. Emergency crews were unable to access the plant due to the successive detonations, according to David Stewart, an emergency medical technician in Hickman County.
“We’ve got a very big investigation,” Sheriff Davis said. “This is not going to be something that we’re going to be — like a car wreck or something like that — that we are just going to clean up the debris and leave.” Davis explained to reporters that there is still much work to be done before drawing conclusions about the cause of the explosion.
Some of the residents who live near the factory say they felt the impact of the explosion, which sent shockwaves at a distance of several miles. “I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” Gentry Stover told the Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that,” he added.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
