US oil field explosion injures six
02 August 2022
An explosion at an oil field in Mississippi injured six workers on July 29. The incident happened while maintenance work was being conducted on an oil storage tank near the town of Bentonia, 30 miles (48km) north of Jackson.
Representative image: Shutterstock
The explosion happened at around 08:00 local time while the six men, who are employed by the oil field construction and mechanical fabrication company W.S. Red Hancock, were believed to be carrying out maintenance work on a storage tank when the explosion happened.
Officials said that all the workers were transported to local hospitals. Two of the injured had to be airlifted due to the severity of their burns, which officials described as “severe” and possibly life-threatening.
Madison County officials said that the workers were at the site in order to conduct maintenance on four storage tanks. Firefighters attending the scene found welding equipment nearby storage tanks containing salt water and petroleum products. One of the four storage tanks had been blown into a nearby wooded area by the time firefighters arrived at the scene while a second was on fire.
The exact cause of the blast is unknown, however officials said that an investigation had already begun. The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has also said it would investigate the incident.