Authorities name 16 killed in Tennessee explosives factory blast | US News

Authorities have identified the 16 people killed in a massive blast at a munitions factory in rural Tennessee.

They were killed in an explosion on Friday at an Accurate Energetic Systems facility around 60 miles southwest of Nashville. The company researches and supplies explosives for the military.

Investigators are still working to discover the cause of the explosion.

Those killed were: Jason Adams, Erick Anderson, Billy Baker, Adam Boatman, Christopher Clark, Mindy Clifton, James Cook, Reyna Gillahan, LaTeisha Mays, Jeremy Moore, Melinda Rainey, Melissa Stanford, Trenton Stewart, Rachel Woodall, Steven Wright and Donald Yowell.

At a news conference, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said people in the community probably at least knew relatives of the victims killed in the explosion.

“It’s just small county, rural America, where everybody knows each other and everybody’s gonna take care of each other,” he said.

Authorities said there were no survivors of the blast, which left twisted and burning metal in its wake.

They said they were working to clear the area of hazards, including explosives, and identify remains.

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Once the area is clear they can begin investigating what caused the explosion, said Matthew Belew, acting special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

He said some of the relevant evidence was spread out over miles.

“It’s almost like putting a puzzle back together,” he added.

“We have worked closely with AES to look at pictures, look at blueprints, any of the identifying things that were in the building. And then we slowly methodically start to put some of that stuff together.”