No survivors were found after an explosives factory exploded in Tennessee

No survivors are expected to be found after the massive explosion that occurred at an ammunition factory in Tennessee on Friday, which left 18 people missing.

Humphreys County Police Chief Chris Davis said that rescue teams still hold out hope of finding any of the missing people alive, but they assume that the missing people are dead.

“As we go into this, we are finding it more devastating than we initially thought,” he said at a news conference.

It remains unclear what caused the explosion at the plant in Bucksnort, Tennessee, about 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Nashville. The facility specializes in developing and manufacturing explosives.

Video footage Pictures taken on Friday showed fires still burning, charred vehicles and smoke rising from the destroyed building. Debris was scattered for a half-mile around where the building used to be, officials said.

It owns the precise power systems that run the plant It suspended its operations.

More than 300 state and local first responders have been searching the site since Friday morning and have found no survivors, Sheriff Davis said Saturday.

“The expectations of anyone inside this building…we can assume that they are dead,” he told the media.

By Saturday morning, the rescue mission had turned into an recovery operation, said Davis, who appeared to be choking.

The FBI is also on site to conduct rapid DNA tests to identify victims and notify families.

“We’re trying to focus as much attention as possible on taking care of their families,” Sheriff Jason Craft of neighboring Hickman County told the BBC.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is on scene to assist in the investigation of the incident.

There was Previous fatal explosion In a unit at the same location in 2014.

Sheriff Davis said Friday that residents of a town about 15 miles (25 kilometers) away were able to hear the explosion.

One local resident, who lives about 20 minutes from the facility, told the BBC she was sitting at her daughter’s dining table when she heard this.

“Suddenly we heard a loud bang. We didn’t know if it was a gun or what,” she said.

Another local resident, Lucy Garton, who has lived nearby for six years, did not hear the explosion herself, but witnessed its aftermath while on her way from work on Friday.

“When I got home, the roads were closed because of state forces,” she said. “You had to provide proof that you lived here to get through.” “There were a lot of ambulances and fire trucks and everything parked at the gas station.”

She said her husband knows people who work at the facility.

“I think it will definitely impact the area,” she added. “It’s a very close-knit community, and everyone is just simple people, going to work every day, taking care of their families, and forming a family-oriented community.”

She said many people in the area work at the factory, adding: “I’m sure it will be difficult for them to return to work after this tragedy.”