VIDEOS/PHOTOS: Tennessee authorities announced Saturday that no survivors have been found after a massive explosion at a rural manufacturing plant Friday after more than 300 investigators combed through the blast site. The blast happened at Accurate Energetic Systems near Bucksnort, about 50 miles west of Nashville, just before 8 a.m. Friday.
Since then, more than 300 people conducted a “very delicate, very methodical” search of the site, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said at a news conference Saturday. “I can tell you that more than 300 people have been through almost every square inch of this facility, and, at this time, we’ve recovered no survivors,” Davis said, at times growing emotional. “We find it even more devastating than what we thought initially,” he added, saying he has spoken with the families of those lost. “Truly devastated. It’s a tremendous loss. A great loss.”
Officials had initially said Friday that there were several deaths, without specifying the number, and that at least 18 people were missing. Davis corrected the number to 16 by Saturday evening, noting authorities were able to “locate” the other two individuals and “determine” that they were “not on this site.”
