The gigantic explosion in a factory in the southern United States left 16 dead, according to the latest report provided on Saturday, October 11, by the authorities, who found two missing people who were presumed dead.
This explosion occurred on Friday morning in the town of Bucksnort, in the state of Tennessee, and blew up an entire building at the Accurate Energetic Systems factory that manufactures explosives for military, aerospace and even demolition sites.
After assuming all 18 were dead, “we were able to locate and determine that two people were not at the scene” at the time of the disaster, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said Saturday.
He said authorities initially believed the two people were inside the factory because their car and personal belongings were found there.
A devastated building
The site was located in a forested, mountainous area away from urban areas, more than 50 miles west of Nashville, the capital of Tennessee.
Television images broadcast on Friday showed a completely devastated building, on fire and vehicles destroyed by the explosion.
Debris was dumped over an 800 m² area around the factory, Chris Davis said Friday, and a team inspected the site to make sure no chemicals made authorities’ work dangerous.
A “tragic accident”
The company that owns the factory spoke of “a tragic accident.”
For his part, the sheriff refused on Saturday to exclude the criminal trail. “It could be several days, weeks and even months before we can do that,” he told reporters.
Several federal agencies were sent to the scene, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI, the sheriff said.
Source: BFM TV
