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Tuesday, November 10, 2026Nov 10

Cleveland, Tennessee, explosion investigated. Victims identified

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / The Amaro Advanced Materials plant is seen on May 15, 2026.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / The Amaro Advanced Materials plant is seen on May 15, 2026. Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / The Amaro Advanced Materials plant is seen on May 15, 2026.

The state’s safety and health administration is investigating Wednesday’s explosion at a manufacturing plant south of Cleveland, Tennessee, and the two people who were seriously burned in the incident have been identified.

A Cleveland Police Department incident report identified the two men who sustained burns in the explosion as Ocoee resident Matthew B. Eaker, 42, and Cleveland resident Juan J. Soto, 61, of Cleveland. The report said Eaker was transported by Erlanger Health’s Life Force helicopter to an unnamed hospital in Georgia, and Soto was taken to Erlanger hospital by ambulance.

There was no information available on Eaker’s and Soto’s conditions, according to Cleveland police spokesperson Capt. Evie West. She was unable to provide the name of the Georgia hospital where Eaker was taken.

Tennessee’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident, agency spokesperson Chris Cannon said via email Friday.

“TOSHA will work to determine what led to this accident,” Cannon said. “The agency doesn’t release preliminary information during the investigative process.”