The explosion from the Tennessee ammunition factory. Missing persons are considered dead by the authorities

All the 18 disappeared from the explosion at an ammunition plant in southern US are supposed to be dead, said the local sheriff, AFP reported, taken over by Agerpres.

“We can assume at the moment that they are dead”, because “no survivor has been found,” announced Chris Davis, the sheriff of Humphreys, in the state of Tennessee, at a press conference, one day after the catastrophe. “At present, we proceed to identify the bodies,” he said.

The explosion took place on Friday, around the local time 07:45 (12: 45gmt) and completely destroyed a building of the Energetic Systems. The authorities had initially reported a balance of 19 missing, later reviewing it during the evening.

The plant is near the town of Bucksnort, in an wooded and hilly area away from the urban areas, over 80 km west of Nashville, the capital of Tennessee.

Fragments of the building were designed within a radius of 800 square meters around the plant, Chris Davis said on Friday, and a team inspected the place to ensure that no chemical product is doing the work of the dangerous authorities.

The sheriff refused to exclude a criminal track on Saturday. Several federal agencies have sent teams on the spot, including the Office for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), as well as FBI, the sheriff said.

Images broadcast by television on Friday showed a totally devastated building, in flames and vehicles destroyed by the breath of the explosion.

In a statement on his website, Energy Systems Energetic has evoked “a tragic accident”. “We think and pray for families, colleagues and population affected by this event,” the company added.

The company, founded in 1980, is declared “specialized in the development, manufacture, handling and storage of a wide range of products in the energy and explosive sector for military, aerospace and commercial demolitions”.