Posted: November 9, 2004 at 1:53 p.m.
Updated: November 12, 2004 at 10:35 a.m. WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) -- Rescuers have recovered the bodies of two more workers killed in this week's pipeline explosion, bringing the death toll to five.
Rain and the presence of dangerous gas fumes had delayed efforts to recover the bodies inside a 14-foot-deep trench where crews had been extending a water line.
About 11 p.m. Thursday, firefighters descended through a hole in the five-foot-wide water pipe, locating the first body about 160 feet from the site of the explosion.
The condition of one of the bodies indicated the man died instantaneously, said Battalion Chief Steve Maiero of the Contra Costa Fire District.
The men were part of a crew working on the water line extension Tuesday when a tractor accidentally struck a nearby fuel pipeline. Officials believe sparks from welders inside the water pipe ignited the fumes.
The explosion caused a 60-foot pillar of fire, destroyed a nearby home and damaged several apartments.
The bodies recovered Thursday night will be turned over to the Contra Costa County coroner's office. Officials were using dental records to identify two other workers whose bodies were found Tuesday along the road by the trench.
A third worker who was seriously burned in the explosion 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.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
