In Bucksnort, Tennessee, residents have spent a chilly autumn night heeding a simple message spraypainted on a concrete barrier by the side of the road: Pray for the AES families.
Community members gathered on Saturday for a candlelit vigil outside the Maple Valley Baptist Church after a blast at local explosives factory Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) left 16 people presumed dead.
This community of Hickman and Humphreys Counties is not huge, so that's a lot of people to lose in an instant, Deacon Danny Bates said to the approximately 40 attendees, who comforted each other and sang hymns such as It Is Well With My Soul.
It was just another day at work, and then in an instant, they were gone. We have unanswered questions.
Vigil-goer Jerri Newcombe shared that her friend of more than 20 years was among the victims. The two met when their daughters became friends as children.
They grew up together - we were in each other's homes, Newcombe said. It's just surreal, because she's gone and her babies are hurting.
No cause of the blast has yet been identified, and agents from the national Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating. Due to the volatile nature of the explosive materials involved, controlled detonations are expected in the coming days to make the site safe for further investigation. As the community continues to grieve, they are also left with questions and a sense of uncertainty about the future.
Community members gathered on Saturday for a candlelit vigil outside the Maple Valley Baptist Church after a blast at local explosives factory Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) left 16 people presumed dead.
This community of Hickman and Humphreys Counties is not huge, so that's a lot of people to lose in an instant, Deacon Danny Bates said to the approximately 40 attendees, who comforted each other and sang hymns such as It Is Well With My Soul.
It was just another day at work, and then in an instant, they were gone. We have unanswered questions.
Vigil-goer Jerri Newcombe shared that her friend of more than 20 years was among the victims. The two met when their daughters became friends as children.
They grew up together - we were in each other's homes, Newcombe said. It's just surreal, because she's gone and her babies are hurting.
No cause of the blast has yet been identified, and agents from the national Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating. Due to the volatile nature of the explosive materials involved, controlled detonations are expected in the coming days to make the site safe for further investigation. As the community continues to grieve, they are also left with questions and a sense of uncertainty about the future.
