(Washington) The gigantic explosion at a factory in the southern United States left 16 dead, according to a new toll revised downwards on Saturday by the authorities, who found two missing people whom they had presumed dead.
This explosion occurred Friday morning in the town of Bucksnort, in the state of Tennessee, and blew up an entire building at the Accurate Energetic Systems factory which manufactures explosives for military, aerospace use and even for demolition sites.
After assuming that all 18 were dead, “we were able to locate and determine that two people were not on site” at the time of the disaster, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said Saturday.
PHOTO OBED LAMY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chris Davis, the sheriff of Humphreys County, Tennessee
He said authorities initially believed the two people were inside the factory because their car and personal belongings were found there.
The site was in a wooded, hilly 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, burning, and vehicles destroyed by the blast of the explosion.
The debris was projected over an area of 800 m2 around the factory, Chris Davis said Friday, and a team inspected the site to ensure that no chemicals were making the authorities’ work dangerous.
The company that owns the factory spoke of “a tragic accident”.
For his part, the sheriff refused on Saturday to exclude the criminal trail.
“Several days, weeks, even months could pass before we can do that,” he told reporters.
Several federal agencies were dispatched to the scene, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI, the sheriff said.
