Garner - Authorities say three workers are dead after an empty gasoline tank undergoing repairs exploded at a fuel storage facility outside Searcy.

Rick Rainey, a spokesman for TEPPCO Partners LP, a Houston-based energy company, said the explosion occurred just before 2:30 p.m. at a storage facility owned by TEPPCO. Rainey said the tank had been previously cleaned and workers were preparing to install a new gauge on it.

Tommy Jackson, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said three workers for an outside company contracted to do the repairs died in the explosion. Rainey said it was not immediately clear whether the workers were inside or outside of the tank at the time of the explosion. He said TEPPCO plans a full investigation.

Officials said the three workers were employed by C&C Welding of Elizabethtown, Ky. A woman who answered the phone at the business acknowledged those killed worked for the company.

Rainey said the TEPPCO facility, just east of U.S. 67, stores diesel and unleaded gasoline for clients. He said the facility has five tanks with a capacity of 250,000 barrels.



(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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