Investigation begins into Utah oil well site explosion that killed one

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MYTON, Utah, May 8 (UPI) -- An investigation began Wednesday morning into a Utah oil well explosion that killed one man and injured two others, an oil company spokesman said.

The explosion Tuesday evening in a tank near the bore hole of a Newfield Exploration Co. oil well, near Myton, Utah, east of Salt Lake City, killed a contract worker. A Newfield employee was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, and a third man, a contract worker, was treated at the scene for minor injuries, Newfield spokesman Keith Schmidt said.

The identities of the dead and injured were not immediately available.

The fire ignited by the blast was confined to the nearby tank and did not burn the well-drilling equipment, Schmidt said.

Newfield investigators, the federal Occupational Safety and Health administration, the Utah State Fire Marshal's Office and the Uintah County Sheriff's Department are taking part in the investigation, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday.