MCEWEN, Tenn. – Authorities are probing a blast that destroyed an explosives factory in rural Tennessee, while the families of the 18 missing individuals, presumed dead, await information with bated breath on Saturday.

The explosion, which occurred Friday morning at Accurate Energetic Systems—a provider and researcher of military explosives—dispersed debris across a wide area of at least a half-mile (800 meters) and was sensed by people residing over 15 miles (24 kilometers) away, as reported by Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis.

Aerial visuals presented the company’s hilltop site engulfed in smoke and charred remains on Friday, revealing a chaotic scene of twisted metal, scorched car remnants, and scattered wreckage.

Davis, calling it among the worst incidents he’s encountered, indicated several fatalities but refrained from specifying a number, referring to the 18 missing as “souls” due to ongoing communications with families.

“What we need right now is we need our communities to come together and understand that we’ve lost a lot of people,” he said.

The corporate website highlights that the operation involves eight buildings dedicated to processing explosives and ammunition, spread over wooded terrain in the Bucksnort region, roughly 60 miles (97 kilometers) from Nashville. The exact number of employees present during the explosion remains unknown.

Davis said investigators are trying to determine what happened and couldn’t say what caused the explosion.

Accurate Energetic Systems, stationed in McEwen, expressed on social media on Friday their “thoughts and prayers” for those affected and the larger community.

“We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult conditions,” the post said.

The company has been awarded numerous military contracts, largely by the U.S. Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and explosives, according to public records. The products range from bulk explosives to landmines and small breaching charges, including C4.

When the explosion occurred, residents in Lobelville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shake, and some people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home cameras.

The blast rattled Gentry Stover from his sleep.

“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,” he told The Associated Press. “I live very close to Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee posted on the social platform X that he is monitoring the situation and asked “Tennesseans to join us in prayer for the families impacted by this tragic incident.”

A small group gathered for a vigil Friday night at a nearby park, clutching candles as they prayed for the missing and their families and sang “Amazing Grace.”

The U.S. has a long history of deadly accidents at workplaces, including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and boys in West Virginia in 1907. Several high-profile industrial accidents in the 1960s helped lead President Richard Nixon to sign a law creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the next year.

In 2019, Accurate Energetic Systems faced several small fines from the U.S. Department of Labor for violations of policies meant to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and other irritants, according to citations from OSHA.

In 2014, an explosion occurred at another ammunition facility in the same small community, killing one person and injuring at least three others.

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Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield, in Cockeysville, Maryland; Hannah Schoenbaum, in Salt Lake City; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.