Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis confirmed this Saturday that there are no survivors after the powerful explosion that occurred at an explosives factory located near the town of McEwen, in the state of Tennessee. On Friday, 19 people were reported missing.
“I can tell you that more than 300 people have been reviewing every inch of these facilities and so far we have not found any survivors,” Humphreys said in a press conference reported by the American television NBC.
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However, Davis
has not confirmed a death toll at the Accurate Energetic Systems facility. “We are in the process of identifying the remains (…). We can assume that they have died,” he explained.
Regarding the cause of the explosion, Davis has indicated that the investigation is ongoing and has pointed out that it cannot be ruled out that there was a crime.
“It could take days, weeks, or months to do so,” he explained.
The Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Office also works on site and one of its agents, Guy McCormick, has explained that there are qualified explosives specialists and bomb disposal experts working to make the area safe.
“In such a situation, explosives are subjected to heat, blast wave, pressure,… so they can change and act differently than we know,” he warned.
The explosion occurred before 8:00 a.m. on Friday, and satellite images show only debris at the site where the factory once stood. Authorities have asked the population to avoid the area, but assure that there is no danger. In any case, they have urged anyone who finds remains that could come from the factory to immediately notify the sheriff’s office.
