Employees #1 through #5 were crew members on a barge-mounted drilling rig in the Atchafalaya Basin off southern Louisiana. They were attempting to complete a natural gas well that had been drilled, cased, and perforated when wellhead control was lost because of mechanical problems, both down the well bore and at the surface on the rig floor.
Drilling mud and natural gas spewed from the drill pipe to a height of 30 feet above the rig floor and also one level down at the shale shaker and mud tanks. When the gas contacted an ignition source, it exploded and the well caught fire.
Employees #1 and #3 were at the shale shaker and Employees # 2 and #4 were standing behind a bulkhead on the second level, 100 feet from the well. All four were killed instantly by the force of the explosion. Employee #5 was injured when a piece of grating landed on him on the deck of the crew boat.
