WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) -- The bodies of two workers missing after a pipeline explosion were recovered after two days of delays, bringing the number of people killed in the accident to five.
The men were killed while working on a water line extension when a tractor accidentally struck a nearby fuel pipeline. Officials believe sparks from welders inside the water pipe ignited the fumes.
Late Thursday, after delays caused by lingering fumes and rain, firefighters were finally able to descend through a hole in the 5-foot-wide water pipe.
The explosion caused a 60-foot pillar of fire, destroyed a nearby home and damaged several apartments.
Officials were using dental records to identify two workers whose bodies were found Tuesday along the road by the 14-foot trench where the crews were working. The bodies recovered Thursday will be turned over to the coroner.
A worker who was seriously burned died in a hospital Wednesday. He was identified as Javier Ramos, 36, a father of five from Pittsburg who worked for Mountain Cascade, the company whose crew may have severed the gas pipeline.
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