Sixteen people were killed in a “devastating” explosion at a Tennessee military supplier plant on Friday morning.
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said that investigators “recovered no survivors," as he delivered an emotional update on the investigation Saturday. Later that day, officials confirmed the death toll and said they had notified the families of all 16 victims.
“It breaks my heart to tell you that, but I think that it can be said,” Davis told reporters on Saturday night.
The explosion occurred at the Accurate Energetic Systems facility in the Bucksnort area just before 8 a.m. local time. Officials initially said 19 people were missing and feared dead, but investigators later found three of those people safe off-site.
Davis said crews are now working to clear the site “foot by foot.”
The cause of the blast is still under investigation, and it could be weeks or months before authorities can rule out foul play, Davis said. He called it the most “devastating scene” he’s ever seen on Friday, telling reporters, “there's nothing to describe, it’s gone.”
Explosive specialists are investigating the incident, according to Supervisor Special Agent Guy McCormick with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They’re at the scene working to make the area safe for law enforcement officials, including agents from the National Repsonse Team, McCormick said.
“In a situation like this, what we find is that when these explosives are subject to the event that took place — which is heat, the explosion being thrown, pressure — they can change, and they can become different than how we know them to act,” he explained.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said Friday he was monitoring the situation, and asked for residents to “join us in prayer for the families impacted by this tragic incident.”
Video from the scene showed the remains of the plant still ablaze with thick black smoke rising up. The eight-building facility is located around 60 miles southwest of Nashville.
Nearby resident Gentry Stover recalled waking up to the massive explosion and thinking that his “house had collapsed” with him inside.
“I live very close to Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that,” he told the Associated Press.
