Overview
- A massive explosion around 7:45 a.m. Friday obliterated an Accurate Energetic Systems facility near Bucksnort in rural Tennessee.
- Authorities revised the number of missing from 19 to 18 and said they are now presumed dead, with identification of remains underway.
- Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis confirmed fatalities and described the building as completely destroyed with debris scattered across the grounds.
- The cause remains undetermined, and the sheriff said it could take days, weeks, or months to establish what happened and to rule out criminal activity.
- Risk of secondary blasts limited rescue efforts, while the ATF and FBI joined local responders at a plant that supplies explosives for military, aerospace, and demolition markets.