The 18 people who were reported missing following an explosion at an explosives factory in a rural area near the city of Bucksnort, in the US state of Tennessee, have died.
The victims were employees of the company Accurate Energetic Systems, and many others were injured and transported to hospitals.
The announcement was made by Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis at a press conference held this Saturday, during which he explained that “more than 300 people inspected almost every square inch of this facility”, and “no survivors were recovered”.
Chris Davis added that rapid DNA tests are being carried out to identify the remains of the victims. “We are dealing with an explosion, but I would say that at the moment we are dealing with human remains”, he added, and when asked if the hypothesis of crime has been ruled out, he limited himself to saying that he cannot answer that: “It could take days, weeks or months before we can say that.”
For now, “an elite team” from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is on site to help investigate the explosion site.