Several people hurt after explosion at gas well along Louisiana coast by WBRZ, May 25, 2021

MORGAN CITY – Several workers were hurt after a natural gas well near the coast of Louisiana erupted into flames.

Texas Petroleum Investment Company said the incident happened at a well in the Belle Isle Field. The company said the situation first began Sunday while workers were attempting to plug the abandoned well. 

Authorities said they received reports around 3 p.m. Tuesday that as many as eight victims suffered varying burn injuries. They were taken to a dock in Morgan City by boat and are being moved to a hospital from that location.

Read the full statement from Texas Petroleum below. 

Contractors working to cap a well in the Belle Isle Field were injured when a spark ignited natural gas. The incident began on Sunday while workers were attempting to plug the abandoned well. The workers are receiving medical treatment and crews are on the scene to protect the environment and bring the well under control.

Four people injured after gas well explosion in Louisiana bayou, The victims were taken by helicopter and ambulance to hospitals in New Orleans and Lafayette, officials said by David Hammer, May 25, 2021, WWLTV

MORGAN CITY, La. — Officials confirm four people were wounded in an explosion at a natural gas well in the inland waters of St. Mary Parish on Tuesday.

Workers from Wild Well Control, an oil spill response company, were trying to get a blowout under control at a well owned by Texas Petroleum Investment Co. when a spark ignited the natural gas coming from the well, according to Patrick Courreges of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.

The Wild Well personnel sustained burns to their hands and face, Courreges said.

The well is located in the marsh along Big Wax Bayou, west of Belle Isle near the Atchafalaya River delta. A review of state oil and gas data shows the well was first drilled in 1965 and had been shut in as of 2015.

Houston-based Wild Well Control says on its website that it’s the world’s leading provider of emergency well control response services, closed its offices at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

TPIC, which says on its LinkedIn profile that its a Houston-based privately owned company that operates more than 2,000 producing wells along the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coast, also could not be reached for comment Tuesday after 5:00 p.m.

The Louisiana State Police Emergency Response Unit was on the scene Tuesday afternoon around 5:00 p.m. with HAZMAT equipment, Trooper Thomas Gossen said.

Randall Mann of Acadian Ambulance said four helicopters and five ground units responded to take four patients to area hospitals. One went to New Orleans by helicopter, two by ambulance and another was taken to a Lafayette hospital by helicopter. The citizenry pay for those services?

Authorities say crews had been working to stop the well blowout since Sunday and the spill seemed to be under control when it ignited.