Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told a news conference that there were fatalities following the blast but could not provide a specific number, saying it was still possible some employees had survived.
When asked to describe the building where the blast occurred at Accurate Energetic Systems, a company that makes and tests explosives about 60 miles southwest of Nashville, Davis replied, “There’s nothing to describe. It’s gone.”
The cause of the blast, which occurred at 7.45am on Friday (1.45pm in the UK), was not immediately known.
Video from the scene showed flames and smoke billowing from a field of debris.
Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the Tennessee plant because of continuing explosions, Hickman County Advanced MT David Stewart said.
Residents in Lobelville, a 20-minute drive from the scene, told the Associated Press that they felt their homes shake and some people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home cameras.
Gentry Stover, who was woken from his sleep by the blast, said: “I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it.
“I live very close to Accurate and I realised about 30 seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that.”
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According to its website, Accurate Energetic Systems manufactures products for the defence, aerospace, demolition, and oil and gas industries.
