McEWEN, Tenn. (AP) — The blast in rural Tennessee that leveled an explosives plant and was felt for miles around left no survivors, authorities said Saturday.
The total number of dead was unclear, as was the cause of the Friday blast. By the weekend, the devastation came into focus, with officials saying they had found no survivors. A total of 16 people were missing, officials said.
“There’s a gauntlet of emotions there,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said during a news conference, pausing to clear his throat before he asked for prayers for the families of the victims in a shaky voice.
“We’ve recovered no survivors,” he added.
25 years ago I looked into what it takes to get a license from the ATF to possess explosives and the minimum requirement was to have different out-buildings known as magazines to house different kinds and amounts of explosives. I remember those magazines had to be spaced a certain distance apart… -That’s where I stopped researching because it seemed totally impractical for a regular-joe to legally possess explosives. I wonder if the ATF still has those regulations and if that company was subject to the regulations as you and the previous commenter have mentioned.