Authorities identify 16 killed in Tennessee explosives factory blast

Donald Yowell, right, was a chemist at the plant.

US law enforcement officials have identified the 16 people who were killed in a blast that levelled a munitions factory in the state of Tennessee.

The names were released during a news briefing on Monday outside Accurate Energetic Systems (AES) in Hickman County, where an early morning blast on 10 October left no survivors.

Sheriffs Chris Davis of Humphreys County and Jason Craft of Hickman County alternated reading the victims' names and emphasized a "need to take care" of their families in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The cause of the blast is still unclear. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating.

The victims were named as Jason Adams, Erick Anderson, Billy Baker, Adam Boatman, Christopher Clark, Mindy Clifton, James Cook, Reyna Gillahan, LaTeisha Mays, Jeremy Moore, Melinda Rainey, Melissa Stanford, Trenton Stewart, Rachel Woodall, Steven Wright and Donald Yowell.

Authorities said the individuals were presumed dead, and the release of their names did not mean their remains had been identified. That process is ongoing.

The plant in Bucksnort, Tennessee - roughly 56 miles south-west of Nashville - specializes in the development, manufacture, handling and storage of explosives.