Several dead, 19 missing after massive blast at explosives plant in Tennessee

Multiple people were dead or missing after a massive blast rocked a US military explosives plant in Tennessee earlier today, officials say, sending emergency responders rushing to the site and prompting warnings for the public to avoid the area.

Aerial footage broadcast by US media shows smoldering debris at the blast site in Hickman County, Tennessee, with charred and mangled vehicles strewn across the facility.

“We can confirm there has been an explosion at Accurate Energetic Systems in the Bucksnort area,” the local sheriff’s office writes on Facebook.

“Emergency services are currently on the scene working to address the situation,” it adds.

????#BREAKING: At least 19 people are missing after an explosion at a Tennessee bomb factory.

All nineteen employees were inside the building at the time, and all of them remain unaccounted for.

Please pray for the families of these workers. pic.twitter.com/8fn6cL3m6v

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) October 10, 2025

The mayor’s office in Hickman County tells old AFP that it could not immediately confirm any fatalities or the cause of the explosion.

But Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis reported “some” fatalities and added that several people were missing in the “very devastating blast” that engulfed an entire building at the facility.

According to the sheriff, 19 people are missing.

“We do have several people at this time that’s unaccounted for. We are trying to be mindful of families and that situation,” Davis tells reporters. “We do have some that are deceased. But we’re going to go back and, like I say, talk to these families, notify these families.”

Davis says authorities had secured the area, but warned of the possibility of smaller explosions around the site.