Texas gas explosion

A natural gas explosion in northern Texas killed one member of a crew installing utility poles, and authorities are trying to determine if the gas line had been marked before digging started.

The US Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was among numerous agencies at the scene after a utility crew struck a gas line on Monday afternoon, sending a massive fireball into the air.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday that it is sending an investigator from its Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations to the scene.

The lone utility worker missing after the blast was found dead on Monday night, once searchers could safely walk through the entire charred area. Authorities had hoped the missing man had left the scene on his own, like some of his colleagues who drove themselves to hospitals.

Brian Fine, Hood County's emergency management co-ordinator, said the worker's body was found some distance from the blast site. The man's name has not been released.

The worker had apparently been riding a truck drilling holes for utility poles when the line suddenly exploded, and other workers lost sight of him in the intense smoke.

Near the blast site in rural Johnson County, Texas about 50 miles southwest of Dallas, officials later found the truck upside down and saw that the 2000 lb drilling component had been ripped off the vehicle and hurled 250 ft away, said a local Fire Chief.

Associated Press

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