Liberal man dies in oil rig accident

An oil rig east of Ames, Okla., snapped in half early Saturday morning killing a Liberal resident working for Wichita-based Tomcat Drilling LLC, a spokesman for the Major County Sheriff's Department said.

Gabriel Ovalle Tellez, 31, died at the scene and Hugoton resident David Gonzalez suffered a broken leg, deputy Nick Holdeman said Monday. Tellez was harnessed at the top of the rig when it collapsed and died immediately on impact.

"The rig was buckled over right in the middle," Holdeman said. "It was bent over facing towards the north. The trip pipe was kind of scattered and leaning against the top of the tower in all directions. It was a pretty big mess. There was no oil spill or anything like that."

An oil rig, operated by Wichita-based Tomcat Drilling LLC, collapsed early Saturday morning killing Gabriel Ovalle Tellez. Tellez, 31, lived in Liberal. A spokesman from the Major County Sheriff’s Office in Okla said Tellez was harnassed at the top of the rig when it collapsed. Photo courtesy of the Enid News and Eagle

The incident is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor in conjunction with the Oklahoma Safety and Health Administration. OSHA will have up to 60 days to determine whether any safety and health standards were violated by Tomcat Drilling, department of labor Michael D'Quino said.

"I spoke to the director at the OSHA office in Oklahoma City (Monday) and he said they had already started their investigation" D'Quino said.

Just before 6 a.m., the drilling crew hit total depth and were asked to pull pipe out of the hole, according to Enid News and Eagle based in Oklahoma. The rig collapsed 25 minutes later.

"There were three other workers on site," Holdeman said. "They were pretty shaken up, but none of them were injured ... As of right now, it was just an accident."

Tomcat Drilling issued a general statement regarding the accident.

"We are deeply sorry for the loss of one of our employees as well as the injury to another employee at the accident site," a spokeswoman said.

For full story please see Wednesday's Times

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