Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MCEWEN, Tenn. (AP) — A preliminary investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has determined that a deadly explosion at a Tennessee ammunition plant was accidental.
ATF spokesman Michael Knight said it will now be up to the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration to determine fault and whether there were any safety violations at the plant.
The explosion Wednesday afternoon at Rio Ammunition killed Rodney Edwards and injured three others. Joey Clark was listed in stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Saturday. The other two victims were discharged earlier in the week.
A news release from Rio parent company Maxam said the Tennessee plant produced shotgun cartridges, and the blast occurred during the company's cartridge loading operations.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.