Investigators said on Saturday that no survivors had been found in a search through the volatile remnants of a Tennessee ammunition plant where 18 people were reported missing after an explosion a day earlier.
In an emotional news conference, Sheriff Chris Davis of Humphreys County, Tenn., said that the likelihood of finding anyone alive had diminished to the point that the search had shifted to a recovery effort.
“We can assume they are deceased at this point,” Sheriff Davis told reporters on Saturday. He choked up as he described the toll. “It’s a great loss,” he said.
Within hours of the blast, the sheriff warned that the extensive devastation included multiple fatalities, but the specific toll had remained unclear.
Officials had initially said that 19 people were missing, but one person was found at home, safe.
Beyond that, officials said, the findings were grim and devastating. Investigators were using DNA as they tried to identify the people whose remains had been found at the site.
An emergency medical helicopter and an ambulance were standing by, but officials said that was a reflection of the danger posed to the few hundred law enforcement officers who were combing through the debris. The highly volatile materials at the site had become even more unpredictable after the heat and pressure they had been exposed to during the explosion, officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said on Saturday.
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The post Search After Tennessee Explosion Finds No Survivors, Officials Say appeared first on New York Times.
