Oklahoma explosion: Two workers dead after blast at Kerr Dam

Contractors were doing routine core drilling as part of safety maintenance programme

Two workers have died following an explosion that trapped them in a shaft at the Kerr Dam on Lake Hudson in Oklahoma.

“At approximately 4.30am this morning, Friday, May 14th, recovery crews were able to recover the bodies of two men who had been trapped inside Kerr Dam since an explosion occurred at approximately 6pm Thursday,” John Wiscaver, executive vice president of the Grand River Dam Authority, said in a statement. “Both men were contractors. No GRDA employees were involved in the incident.”

The blast, at Kerr Dam near Salina, happened as the contactors were doing routine core drilling about 80ft down, according to Justin Alberty, a spokesman for GRDA.

The authority said three workers were testing the bedrock underneath the dam, according to News on 6.

While the three contractors from out of state were working, an explosion took place and trapped two of the three in a shaft.

Mr Alberty told KJRH that the man who wasn’t trapped made it out safely and initially refused medical attention but was later taken to a hospital in Pryor, east of Tulsa.

He added that the explosion caused no structural damage and that the dam is stable. A full investigation of what went wrong is underway.