Multiple people are dead after a massive explosion erupted at a Tennessee bomb factory early Friday morning.

The explosion occurred at the Accurate Energetic Systems facility, situated roughly 60 miles southwest of Nashville, near Bucksnort, around 7:50 am local time.

According to WSMV, the blast happened during a typical shift change, meaning there were fewer people present than usual. At least 19 employees are still unaccounted for.

The initial blast was so enormous that locals reported hearing and feeling it from dozens of miles away. 

The extent of the damage remains unclear at this time, but officials said it encompassed an entire building located on the site.

Video footage from the location depicted a field of burning debris, with smoke rising into the atmosphere. Several cars and buildings seem to have been damaged by the explosion.

Emergency crews are on the scene and have advised the public to steer clear as they manage the situation. Their primary concern is the possibility of additional explosions.

There was an explosion at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant in April 2014. That blast left one person dead and three others injured.

Emergency teams are at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant in Tennessee’s Bucksnort region following a significant explosion on Friday morning. Authorities stated that their main concern at the moment is the risk of further explosions.

The extent of the damage remains unclear at this time, but several cars and buildings appear to have been impacted by the blast

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has also been sent to the plant to investigate the explosion. Shown is the destruction caused by the blast.

First responders have rushed to aid those impacted by the explosion. 

‘Right now we’re prioritizing people that are involved, their families and trying to be very compassionate toward them,’ Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said.

The Hickman County Sheriff’s Office has asked locals to avoid the area to allow responders to do their work.

Emergency responders were not yet able to go in to the plant because there continue to be explosions, Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart told AP. 

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has also shut down State Route 230, just north of I-40, as first responders work the scene. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has also been dispatched to the plant.

Officials expect to the investigation to take several days.

‘We’re at the beginning stages of all of this,’ Hickman County Sheriff Jason Craft said Friday morning. ‘We’re getting information minute-by-minute and we’re going to continue to build on that and do what we need to do.’

He urged the community to ‘keep everyone in your prayers as we go through this [over] the next few days.’

The blast went off at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant around 7.50am local time, the Hickman County Sheriff’s Office confirmed

The initial blast was so enormous that locals reported hearing and feeling it from miles away

Debris covers the ground and vehicles after a powerful blast ripped through a military explosives manufacturing plant in Hickman County, Tennessee

Footage from the scene showed a burning debris field with smoke billowing into the air

The blast was heard from miles away, causing shelves and windows to rattle, residents claimed.

Beyonica Holt, whose residence is located roughly 15 miles from the factory, said she ‘thought we were at war’ and that ‘I was going to die.’

‘I was standing in my bedroom. It shook the whole house. I thought it was going to blow out my windows – it didn’t, but that’s how big it was,’ she told The Tennessean. 

Hickman County Mayor Jim Bates said his office has received multiple calls from residents claiming that they felt the ground shake. 

‘It’s an unfortunate incident. It was felt around our county,’ the mayor said. ‘We just pray that the good Lord keeps their hand on the families that’s involved.’

Residents in Lobelville, a more than a 20-minute drive from the military explosives manufacturing plant, said they felt their homes shake.

‘I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it,’ Gary Stover, who claimed the blast rattled him from his sleep, told AP. ‘I live very close to Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.’

A resident in Santa Fe, Tennessee – nearly 40 miles away from the plant – also claimed on social media that houses shook in their neighborhood. 

Smoke fills the air as debris covers the ground and vehicles after a powerful blast ripped through a military explosives manufacturing plant

A search is underway after a powerful explosion ripped through an explosives manufacturing plant in rural Tennessee on Friday

Police block the road leading to Accurate Energetic Systems after an explosion Friday morning

Accurate Energetic Systems was established in 1980 and manufacturers explosives and ammunition. 

Public records show that the company sold numerous types of weapons to the US military, including dynamite, landmines and explosive powder for large-caliber shells. 

The plant ‘is dedicated to the development, manufacture, handling, and storage of high-quality energetic products utilized in both defense and commercial markets,’ according to its website.

It also specializes in creating high-grade explosives for demolition and makes ‘linear shaped charges to claymore mines,’ the website added.

The facility, which sits on 1,300 acres, is comprised of a quality control lab and eight production buildings that manufacture, store and research explosives for ‘military, aerospace, and commercial demolition’ markets.

Some of the products listed for sale are designed by the Department of Defense and approved for use for foreign military units, police forces and commercial customers.

The company also uses the sprawling campus to test explosives, according to it’s website, measuring the velocity of explosions as well as their impact on surrounding areas under varying environmental conditions. 

The website says that facilities can safely accommodate explosives with up to 35 pounds of ‘net explosive weight,’ and conducts daily tests.

The Accurate Energetic Systems facility, which sits on 1,300 acres, is comprised of eight production buildings and a quality control lab

A blast went off at the plant 11 years ago, killing one person. There were roughly a dozen people in the building at the time of the explosion.

The 2014 explosion occurred in a building that was operated by Rio Ammunition and made ammunition for law enforcement and the military, as well as hunting.

The Rio Ammunition building was ‘pretty much destroyed’ during that explosion, officials said at the time.

Accurate Energetic Systems announced a $9.7 million expansion in 2020 that brought 80 new jobs to the area, according to The Tennessean.

They received a state grant of $601,000 from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for the expansion, and brought two out-of-state businesses to the area through acquisitions.