Oklahoma man dies in Arkansas gas pipeline explosion

OZARK, Ark. (AP) _ Officials in Arkansas say an Oklahoma man died today when the gas pipeline he was working on exploded, throwing him down 25 feet engulfed in flames. <br/><br/>Franklin County, Arkansas,

Saturday, January 22nd 2005, 7:40 pm

By: News On 6

OZARK, Ark. (AP) _ Officials in Arkansas say an Oklahoma man died today when the gas pipeline he was working on exploded, throwing him down 25 feet engulfed in flames.

Franklin County, Arkansas, Coroner Jannis Hare says 26-year-old Erick Strickler of Stigler was working with a crew from Thornton Drilling at a gas well when the explosion occurred.

Strickler was pronounced dead at about two a-m this morning at the site just south of the Arkansas River in a field near Arkansas 96.

Hare says another Oklahoman, 44-year-old John McCurtain, was injured in the explosion. McCurtain was taken to Mercy Hospital in Ozark where he was treated and released.