Amy Slanchik
Oklahoma rig
Five oilrig workers are missing after an explosion occurred in an Oklahoma gas well, Monday morning, Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris stated in a press conference, CNN reported.
Seventeen employees were rescued but “five are still unaccounted for at the well,” Morris said.
The drilling rig in Quinton, about 100 miles southeast of Tulsa, exploded just before 9 a.m. while about two dozen people were working on-site.
The derrick collapsed while the explosion sparked several fires.
"They have extinguished the secondary fires. The primary fire on the wellhead is still burning," Pittsburg County Emergency Management Director Kevin Enloe said in a Monday afternoon press conference.
Red Mountain Energy operates the drilling site, according to Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas operators.
The company, Red Mountain Energy, issued a statement on its website stating, “Our hearts are heavy for those affected by the tragic oil field accident in Pittsburg County. As a company, we ask everyone to please join us in offering prayers for those who are missing and injured. To the first responders who answered the call to render medical care and secure the well site, we say thank you. Our top priority is the people who have been affected and the safety of everyone involved.”
Patterson-UTI Energy drilled the well and issued a statement saying it was "deeply saddened" by the incident."Our hearts go out to the families of the five missing individuals, three of whom are Patterson-UTI employees," the statement said. "We've reached out to their families and are providing support during this difficult time. At this moment, no one knows with certainty what happened and it would be unwise to speculate."
A cause of the blast was not immediately clear. The well site is closed pending an investigation.
