Vicksburg residents expressed grief Saturday for the deaths of the seven astronauts aboard space shuttle Columbia and recalled memories of the 1986 Challenger tragedy.

Columbia exploded about 8 a.m. Saturday over Texas about 16 minutes before its scheduled landing in Florida.

“This just goes to show that you just never know,” said Eddie Rector, an employee at Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City, where about 100 televisions were tuned to news coverage of the explosion. “Life can come to an end that quick.”

“This is an unfortunate accident that comes at a hard time,” he said, referring to the possibility of a war with Iraq.

Harold Blackmon, also a Cowboy Maloney employee, said he’d caught glimpses of the television coverage throughout the day.

“It’s tragic,” he said. “Anytime anybody loses their life it’s tragic.”

Cathleen and Everett Ezell, Vicksburg residents for 57 years, called the disaster terrible and heart-rendering.

“It’s sad,” she said. “I just hate to see this.”

She said the news of the accident brought back memories of the Challenger explosion and was reminded of the New Hampshire school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in that accident.

“They have guts and determination,” Cathleen said. “Without astronauts, where would we be?”

“It’s tough. I hate to see it, but what can we do?” Everett said. “We’re just country people, there’s nothing we can do.”

Debris from the shuttle was reported in areas in Texas and Louisiana. Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said late Saturday he had not been contacted by federal or state law enforcement authorities about possible debris in the Vicksburg area.