A natural gas well 75 miles SE of Mississippi , LA exploded at about 2pm Tuesday , killing one worker and critically burning four others. Authorities fifth evacuated people within two miles but expanded to two miles for fear winds would scatter poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas, which is naturally associated with some gas fields. Officials intended to use a flame thrower to keep the escaping gas burning in order to burn off the poison. `Until we get a firm handle on this and somebody that can tell us with absolute certainty what is going on there, we will continue to take extreme precautions,'' said Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dusty Perkins. Experts at capping gas wells were to fly in Tuesday night . The gas rig, owned by R&H Oil and Gas of Tickfaw , LA , was known as Travis No . 3.
A natural gas well 75 miles SE of Mississippi , LA exploded at about 2pm Tuesday , killing one worker and critically burning four others. Authorities fifth evacuated people within two miles but expanded to two miles for fear winds would scatter poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas, which is naturally associated with some gas fields. Officials intended to use a flame thrower to keep the escaping gas burning in order to burn off the poison. Experts at capping gas wells were to fly in Tuesday night . The gas rig, owned by R&H Oil and Gas of Tickfaw , LA , was known as Travis No . 3.