Sheriff says 2 dead, 3 injured in gas line explosion in Texas Panhandle

Blast in Texas Panhandle kills 2, injures 3

DARROUZETT, Texas — A Texas Panhandle sheriff says two people are dead from a natural gas pipeline explosion.

Lipscomb County Sheriff James Robertson said in a news release Tuesday that the men were killed shortly after the blast in a remote part of the region.

Three people were injured. One was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Oklahoma City. Two others working near the explosion had injuries not considered life-threatening.

The five men were moving clay from a pit near the pipeline when a bulldozer struck it, causing the explosion.

The blast about 270 miles northeast of Lubbock is the second natural gas line explosion in Texas in as many days.