US law enforcement officials have identified the 16 people who were killed in a blast that levelled a munitions factory in the state of Tennessee.
The names were released during a news briefing on Monday outside Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) in Hickman County, where an early morning blast on 10 October left no survivors.
Sheriffs Chris Davis of Humphreys County and Jason Craft of Hickman County alternated reading the victims’ names and emphasised a “need to take care” of their families in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The cause of the blast at the munitions factory is still unclear. Agents from the national Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating.
Authorities said the individuals were presumed dead, and the release of their names did not mean their remains had been identified. That process is ongoing.
The munitions factory in Bucksnort, Tennessee – roughly 56 miles (90km) south-west of Nashville – specialises in the development, manufacture, handling and storage of explosives.
The tragedy has hit hard in the close-knit town, where cell service is spotty and a gas station – adorned with a Confederate flag centerpiece – is the local watering hole.
Sheriff Davis, who has described the blast as one of the most devastating incidents of his career, said that one victim was a teacher.
Another was his neighbour’s husband, he said, and a third was one of his best friends, according to local newspaper, The Tennessean.
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