PORT ARTHUR, Texas — According to 12newsnow in Texas, two Loui siana men have been killed and one was seriously injured in a work boat explosion at a boat ramp at the J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area on the west side of Port Arthur, Tx.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the vessel was working on a levee project at the WMA through a partnership between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Ducks Unlimited.
All three men were taken to a hospital in Southeast Texas by ambulance where two were pronounced dead, according to the Port Arthur Interim Deputy Fire Chief Antonio Mitchell.
According to the Jefferson County Precinct Two Justice of the Peace Joseph L. Guillory, the captain, a 45-year-old from Abbeville, and a 41-year-old from Houma.
There was a fourth man on the boat who had gone to his truck to retrieve something he had left behind. The boat exploded after he left, and his absence at the time saved him from being in harm’s way when the explosion occurred according to Interim Chief Mitchell.
Preliminary reports say that the explosion happened around 7am Wednesday morning.
The Port Arthur fire marshal is investigating the cause of the explosion.