3RD WORKER DIES
OF INJURIES FROM DECEMBER OIL RIG EXPLOSION.
THE WORKERS WERE EMPLOYED BY DAN D. DRILLING, BASED IN LAMONT, AND THE
RIG WAS OWNED BY PABLO ENERGY, OF TEXAS.
Trucks
sit outside a drilling rig following an explosion and a fire that killed two
workers and injured three others Friday, Dec. 19, 2014 in Coalgate, Okla. One the 3 injured workers has just died. Authorities said the fire had been
extinguished and that investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and
Health Administration were helping investigate the cause of the explosion.
A third man has died of injuries suffered in a December
explosion at an oil rig in southern Oklahoma.
The wife of Mark Pittman told reporters Pittman died
during the weekend at an Oklahoma City hospital where he was taken following
the Dec. 19 explosion and fire at the rig near Coalgate.
Two workers died in the blast and subsequent fire. The
workers previously were identified by the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office as
26-year-old Gary Keenen, of Ada, and 27-year-old Kelsey Bellah, of Tulsa.
Two other workers were injured but have not been
identified.
The workers were employed by Dan D. Drilling, based in
Lamont, and the rig was owned by Pablo Energy, of Texas.
Dan Darling, owner of Dan D. Drilling, said one of the
injured workers remains hospitalized, while the other was treated and released
on the day of the explosion.
Darling said Monday he had been advised by Occupational
Safety and Health Administration not to release much information.
“I mean our prayers and everything are just with the
families and that’s all I can really tell you,” he said.
OSHA is investigating the explosion.