WORLD : 4 Americans Killed in Oil Well Blast
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CARACAS, Venezuela — An oil well blew up in eastern Venezuela, killing four Americans doing repair work on the facility, the state oil subsidiary Corpoven said today.
The workers withdrew a pipe from the well and gas escaped, setting off the explosion Wednesday, Corpoven said in a statement.
The blast instantly killed Don MacCormick and David Hernandez, who worked for the specialty firm Otis, and Don Whitehead, who worked for Royal Oil Tools. Another Otis employee, Ricky Johnson, was seriously burned in the explosion at the Tejero 2E well near the village of Tejero in Monagas province and later died in a hospital.
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