No survivors in factory explosion, sheriff says

18 had been declared missing after blast at Tennessee explosives manufacturing plant.

- By ADRIAN SAINz AND TRAVIS LOLLER

RESIDENTS attend a vigil Friday after the explosion in rural McEwen, Tenn.

(OBED LAMY Associated Press)

The blast in rural Tennessee that leveled an explosives plant and was felt for miles around left no survivors, authorities said Saturday.

Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said during a news conference that officials were working on the assumption that all of the people at the site were dead. The number of people who died was unclear, as was the cause ofthe blast.

Davis had said earlier there were 18 people missing.

“We've recovered no survivors,” Davis said.

The explosion Friday morning at Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies and researches explosives for the military, scattered debris over at least a half-mile area and was felt by residents more than 15 miles away, Davis said.

Aerial video showed the company’s hilltop location smoldering and smoky Friday, with a mass of twisted metal, burned-out shells of cars and an array of debris left behind.

Davis, who described it as one of the worst scenes he’s ever seen, said officials were investigating and still working to recover the bodies of those killed.

“It’s not like working an accident. It’s not like working a tornado. We're dealing with explosions. And I would say at this time, we're dealing with remains,” he said.