McEwen: An explosion at a Tennessee military munitions plant left multiple people dead and missing on Friday, authorities said, as secondary blasts forced rescuers to keep their distance from the burning field of debris.
The blast, which people reported hearing and feeling kilometres away, occurred at Accurate Energetic Systems in rural Tennessee. The company’s website says it makes and tests explosives at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills near Bucksnort, a town about 97km southwest of Nashville.
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.Credit: AP
“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 news conference. “We do have some that are deceased.”
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known, and Davis said the investigation could take days.
Aerial footage of the aftermath by WTVF-TV showed the explosion had apparently obliterated one of the facility’s hilltop buildings, leaving only smouldering wreckage and the burnt-out shells of vehicles.
The sheriff added that although the scene was secure from large explosions, smaller ones may still be heard.
The explosion occurred at Accurate Energetic Systems in rural Tennessee.Credit: AP
Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations, Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart said by phone. He didn’t have any details on casualties.
Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwan, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment Friday morning.
