“In an instant they were gone”

In Bucksnort, Tennessee, residents spent a cold fall night responding to a simple message painted on a concrete roadside barrier: “Pray for AES families.”

Community members gathered Saturday for a candlelight vigil outside Maple Valley Baptist Church after an explosion at a local AES explosives plant killed 16 people.

This community in Hickman and Humphreys counties “isn’t huge, so there’s a lot of people that would lose in an instant,” Deacon Danny Bates told the roughly 40 attendees, who comforted each other and sang hymns like “It’s Good with My Soul.”

“It was just another day at work, and then in an instant, they were gone. We have unanswered questions.”

Geri Newcomb, one of the vigil’s leaders, said her friend of more than 20 years was among the victims. The two met when Newcomb’s granddaughter and the victim’s daughter became close as little girls.

“They grew up together, we were in each other’s houses,” Newcombe told the BBC during the vigil. She added: “We celebrated our birthdays together. It’s surreal, because she’s gone and her children are hurting,” referring to the victim’s children and grandchildren.

Local police have not publicly identified any of the unaccounted for victims, all of whom authorities assume were killed.

Ms Newcombe said her friend was “full of life”. “She was the kind of person who could make you laugh at anything, but you didn’t go against her either, otherwise she would tear you apart,” Mrs Newcombe added between tears and laughter, as her granddaughter comforted her.

Residents say Bucksnort is a tight-knit town where cell service is spotty, and the gas station — decorated with a Confederate flag centerpiece — is the local water source. This tragedy has hit the area hard as family, friends, neighbors and co-workers mourn the community.

The town was holding out hope for good news after the explosion Friday morning shook homes across the area, blanketing the sky in smoke and drawing hundreds of state and national first responders to a sleeping community behind woods along a busy highway.

But after nearly two days of no sign of survivors, and the blast site still considered dangerous for first responders, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis, once optimistic, said it was time to shift to a recovery strategy rather than rescue.

“At some point, we have to come off the Band-Aids,” said Davis, who held back tears at news conferences. “We’re dealing with the remains.”

Hickman County Sheriff Jason Kraft told the BBC on Saturday evening that rapid DNA analysis was still ongoing, but after research by 300 first responders, authorities had enough confidence in their assessment of the scene to notify families that their loved ones were likely dead.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, and agents from the National Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating. ATF official Bryce McCracken told the BBC that it could take up to a month for federal investigators to reach the main site of the explosion.

Officials said the volatile nature of the explosive materials also hampered emergency response, as controlled explosions were also expected to make the site safe in the coming days.

Tiffany Storey says her cousin was also among the victims, along with four other people she knew, including someone she once babysat.

“Everyone knows everyone here,” an emotional Ms Storey told the BBC. “With everyone being so close, it’s very comforting to have family. That’s who we are — both by blood, and not by blood, this whole community is family.”

“There will probably never be any answers” ​​to this tragedy, she said.

Janie Brown said she also knew victims at the site. “They were loved by their families and the community,” she said outside another prayer vigil at Hurricane Chapel Freewell Baptist Church in nearby McEwen.

“It’s just a sad, sad day,” she said.

Residents told the BBC that Micro Energy Systems (AES) employs about 80 workers and is one of the only well-paid private jobs in these counties. For many here, the factory was known as the first reliable business for themselves or their close friends.

A recent job posting offered a salary of $19 an hour for an entry-level manual labor position, more than double the state’s minimum wage of $7.25.

The plant has experienced other difficulties, but none on this scale.

In 2014, an explosion at the company killed one person, and a workplace safety inspection in 2019 led to relatively minor fines, which the company settled, according to online records.

Residents who spoke to the BBC had positive feelings about the company, and local police say they have had no previous reports of unsafe working conditions.

Hurricane Church Baptist Pastor Tim Ferris praised his congregation’s response to the tragedy.

“One thing about a small community is that when something like this happens, they rally around each other, come together to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to manage these people, to care for them, to provide for them.

“This is a wonderful thing,” he said.