A blast that leveled an explosives plant Friday in rural Tennessee left 19 people missing and feared dead, authorities said. The explosion took place at Accurate Energetic Systems, a company that makes and tests explosives at an eight-building facility in the wooded hills near Bucksnort, about 60 miles (97 kilometres) southwest of Nashville, according to the Hickman County Sheriff’s Office, the Associated Press (AP) reported. “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.” 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, Tenn., on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP) The cause of the blast is not yet known. Video from the scene showed smoke and flames rising from the area, while residents miles away said they felt the explosion, AP said. Emergency crews were unable to enter the site at first because of continuing detonations, Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart told AP by phone. He said he had no details yet about injuries. Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday morning. “This is a tragedy for our community,” McEwen Mayor Brad Rachford said in an email, according to AP. He referred further questions to a county official. Images broadcast by WTVF-TV in Nashville showed damaged vehicles and debris scattered around the site. The station said it received calls from people across the area who felt the explosion. Residents in nearby Lobelville, about a 20-minute drive from the plant, said their homes shook. “I thought the house had collapsed with me inside it,” Gentry Stover, who lives close to the facility, told AP. “I realised about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”
