3rd Lawsuit Filed After Fatal Gas Rig Explosion

The natural gas rig explosion in Oklahoma killed five workers.

Mar 15, 2018

In this photo provided from a frame grab from Tulsa's KOTV/NewsOn6.com, fires burn at an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig near Quinton, Okla., Monday Jan. 22, 2018. Five people are missing after a fiery explosion ripped through a drilling rig, sending plumes of black smoke into the air and leaving a derrick crumpled on the ground, emergency officials said.

Christina Goodvoice, KOTV/NewsOn6.com via AP

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A third wrongful death lawsuit has been filed over a natural gas rig explosion in Oklahoma that killed five workers.

Julie Smith of McAlester, widow of Matthew Smith, filed the lawsuit Wednesday.

The widows of Roger Cunningham and Parker Waldridge, also Oklahomans, have filed similar lawsuits over the Jan. 22 explosion.

The lawsuit was first reported by the McAlester News-Capital and names Red Mountain Energy, Red Mountain Operating, Patterson-UTI Drilling and Patterson-UTI Energy.

Patterson-UTI has said it doesn't comment on pending litigation, but is committed to preventing future accidents. An attorney for Red Mountain hasn't returned phone calls for comment.

The explosion near Quinton, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa, also killed Josh Ray of Fort Worth, Texas, and Cody Risk of Wellington, Colorado.