Two workers trapped in Oklahoma dam after explosion

Two workers were trapped Thursday night in an Oklahoma dam after an explosion, a dam agency official said.

The blast just before 6 p.m. at Kerr Dam near Salina did not compromise the structure, said Justin Alberty, spokesman for the Grand River Dam Authority.

The contractors were about 80 feet down from the top of the dam and doing routine core sample drilling when they were trapped, he said.

“Right now the priority is to get to them, to get down to those two individuals,” Alberty said.

Alberty did not have details on their conditions or how they were trapped. He said they were in an inspection gallery when the explosion happened, and he believed that officials had been in contact with them at some point.

There were three contractors at the location at the time of the blast, and one was able to get out. That worker initially declined treatment but was later taken to a hospital to be checked out, Alberty said.

The core sample drilling into the bedrock below the dam was described as part of a routine dam safety program.

Alberty said that there may have been a pocket of natural methane gas, but cautioned that the cause of the explosion has not been determined.

The Kerr Dam is on the south end of Lake Hudson in Mayes County, southwest of Salina.