McALESTER, Okla. -- The 911 calls from Monday’s gas well explosion in Quinton have been released.
The first caller dialed 9-1-1 at 8:38 Monday morning. From the way the caller describes the scene, it seems he was either working on the site or very close to it.
The caller names the rig and location and claims there are multiple people hurt, saying there was a full crew on the rig when it exploded. He added, “It’s on fire. The whole rig’s on fire.”
22 men turned out to be working on or near the well at the time. One was airlifted to a hospital and five were unaccounted for.
Five more calls came in within the next 10 minutes, some describing the thick, black smoke.
Contaminated water from drilling fluids traveled off the area into a ditch along a county road, a violation, making the site even more dangerous.
After stabilizing the drilling site on Tuesday, authorities recovered the bodies of the five workers. The exact cause of the initial blast is still under investigation.
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