Trial begins against company in Oklahoma oil rig explosion

McALESTER — The wrongful death trial has begun against a oilfield equipment contractor in connection with a January 2018 explosion and fire that killed five men in southeastern Oklahoma.

The McAlester News-Capital reports that attorneys for the families of Parker Waldridge of Crescent; Matt Smith of McAlester; Roger Cunningham from Seminole; Josh Ray of Fort Worth, Texas; and Cody Risk of Wellington, Colorado, said in opening statements Tuesday that National Oilwell Varco in primarily to blame for the men’s deaths when the rig exploded in Quinton.

NOV argues that another company working at the site was at fault.