5 missing, 17 rescued at gas well site

US, (Daily Mail), 23 January 2018 -  Five people are missing after a fiery explosion ripped through an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the air and leaving a derrick crumpled on the ground.   

More than 20 employees were at the natural gas well site when the blast was reported around 8.45am, Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris said.   

Aerial footage shows several fires were still burning by midday on the rig and other equipment; the derrick, a towering metal structure above the well, collapsed onto the ground.   

Emergency crews were pulled away after other explosions at the site, where several tanks are also located, Pittsburg County Emergency Management Director Kevin Enloe said during an afternoon news conference.   

He said crews were searching the surrounding woods to see if anyone had fled into the area.   

‘Most everybody was taken off the site and taken to a secure site here in Quinton,’ said Morris, the sheriff. He said workers were ‘pretty shook up’.   

‘It’s a pretty dramatic deal to go through,’ he said.