Smoke fills the air as debris covers the ground and vehicles after a powerful blast ripped through a military explosives manufacturing plant in Hickman County, Tenn., on Friday. (WTVF-TV via AP)

McEWEN, Tenn. (AP) — A blast that leveled an explosives plant Friday in rural Tennessee left 19 people missing and feared dead, authorities said.

Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said the blast at Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies the military, was one of the worst scenes he’s ever seen. He said multiple people were killed but declined to say how many, referring to the 19 missing as “souls” because officials were still speaking to family.

“There’s nothing to describe. It’s gone,” Davis said of the building.

The blast occurred about 7:45 a.m., Davis said, with aerial footage by WTVF

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