Floyd County Sheriff Tim Burkhalter said he and others attending the National Sheriff's Convention at the Opryland hotel in Nashville spent part of the night in the parking lot after an explosion.

Burkhalter posted on his Facebook page that he and other guests were still in the parking lot after the explosion late last night.

The Tennessean reported about 5,000 guests at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center have been evacuated after an explosion on the first floor in the Delta area of the resort, said Nashville Fire Department spokesman Ricky Taylor.

As of 10:25 p.m., guests were still not allowed inside the complex. The hotel was reportedly sold out for the evening, Taylor said.

"This explosion was strong enough that it destroyed one of the escalators and blew upward through the first floor into the second floor," Taylor said. "An area the size of a football field was affected. This is all internal. Nothing is visible from the outside of the building."

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