(CNN) — Early Friday, a thundering blast at a military and industrial explosives plant reverberated across a tight-knit community in central Tennessee, razing an entire building on the plant’s sprawling campus and killing a still-unknown number of people.

At least 18 people remain missing after the massive explosion, which rattled homes miles away and rocketed debris for at least half a square mile. Officials have acknowledged fatalities but declined to give a number from what remained a chaotic scene long after the blast.

“We need our communities to come together and understand that we’ve lost a lot of people. This don’t only affect those families, it runs deeper … this could be people that you grew up with,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said, noting one victim was a childh

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