Several people were killed or missing after a powerful explosion at a military explosives factory in Tennessee Tennessee

A massive explosion at a military ammunition plant in Tennessee on Friday morning left several people dead or missing, according to the county sheriff, with first responders saying secondary explosions forced rescuers to move away from the burning site.

The powerful explosion occurred at an explosives manufacturing plant in rural Tennessee on Friday morning, shaking homes miles away and sending emergency services to the scene, authorities and residents said.

The Hickman County Sheriff’s Office said the incident occurred at Accurate Energetic Systems near the town of Bucksnort, about 60 miles southwest of Nashville. The agency asked people in a social media post to avoid the area to allow responders to do their work.

More explosions kept rescuers some distance away, Hickman County Advanced Placement Paramedic David Stewart told The Associated Press by phone.

Accurate Energetic Systems, which manufactures and tests explosives and is based in nearby McEwan, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment Friday morning. The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

Video from the scene showed a burning field of debris with smoke billowing into the air. WTVF-TV in Nashville broadcast images of debris scattered around the site, and damaged vehicles in the parking lot. The news station said it received calls from people in the area who felt a large explosion.

Residents in Loubelville, more than a 20-minute drive from the manufacturer, said they felt their homes shaking, and some people captured the loud explosion on their home cameras.

The explosion jolted Gentry Stover from his sleep.

“I thought the house had collapsed with me inside,” he told the AP by phone. “I live near Accurate and I realized about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to be this way.”