Published On 11/10/2025
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Last update: 10:36 (Mecca time)
American authorities are investigating an explosion that destroyed an explosives factory in the Tennessee countryside, resulting in an unspecified number of deaths, amid fears of the death of 18 other missing persons whose fate is shrouded in mystery.
Humphreys County Police Chief Chris Davis said the explosion occurred Friday morning at Accurate Energy Systems, which supplies the military and conducts explosives research.
The explosion scattered debris over an area of no less than 800 meters, and was felt by residents more than 24 kilometers away.
When asked to describe the building where the explosion occurred, Davis said, “There is nothing to describe. The building was leveled.”
Aerial footage showed the company’s hilltop site burning and billowing with smoke yesterday, leaving nothing but a mass of twisted metal, burned car bodies and a pile of rubble.
Davis described the incident as one of the worst scenes he had ever seen, saying that many people died. But he refused to reveal the number of missing people, describing the 18 as “souls” because officials were still talking to their families.
He continued, saying, “Investigators are trying to determine what happened, but they were unable to determine the cause of the explosion, and what we need now is for our communities to come together and understand that we have lost many people.”
The company’s website indicates that it processes explosives and ammunition in an eight-building facility stretching across wooded hills in the Bucksnort area, about 97 kilometers southwest of Nashville. It was not immediately known how many workers were at the factory or how many people were there at the time of the explosion.
In a post on social media yesterday, Accurate Energy Systems, based in nearby McEwan, said its “thoughts and prayers” were with the families of the victims and the affected community.
“We extend our gratitude to all first responders who continue to work tirelessly under difficult circumstances,” the post said.
Military contracts
According to official records, the company has received several military contracts, mostly from the US Army and Navy, to supply various types of munitions and explosives, with products ranging from bulk explosives to landmines and small penetration charges, including C4.
The aforementioned highly explosive substance is manufactured in military facilities. It has a wide ability to destroy armor, and according to military experts, a package weighing two kilograms of C4 is equivalent, if it explodes, to the force of 10 kilograms of highly explosive TNT.
When the explosion occurred, residents of Loubelville, a 20-minute drive from the site of the accident, said they felt their homes shake, and some people captured the sound of the explosion on their home cameras.
Gentry Stover, a resident of Loubellville, says that he suddenly woke up from his sleep, frightened by the explosion, and at first he thought that the house had collapsed while he was inside, until he realized this later.
For his part, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said on the X platform that he is monitoring the situation, and asked Tennessee residents to “join in prayer for the families affected by this tragic incident.”
Not the first
The United States has a long history of fatal workplace accidents, including the Monongah coal mine explosion that killed 362 men and children in West Virginia in 1907.
Several prominent industrial accidents in the 1960s prompted then US President Richard Nixon to sign a law to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In 2014, an explosion occurred at another munitions facility in the same small area, killing one person and wounding at least three others.
In 2019, a microenergy company faced small fines from the US Department of Labor for violating policies intended to protect workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, radiation and other irritants, according to OSHA reports.