Widow of worker killed at Nabors drilling site sues Houston company

Nabors Drilling rig near Orla, TX, where Luis Velazquez died Nabors Drilling rig near Orla, TX, where Luis Velazquez died Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Widow of worker killed at Nabors drilling site sues Houston company 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The widow of a worker who was killed in a workplace accident involving an industrial sized blender has sued Nabors Drilling USA for negligence, according to a lawsuit filed this week in state district court in Harris County.

Luis Velazquez was working in March at an above ground mud pit at a drilling site in West Texas. He was cleaning the giant metal blades used to stir mud to keep water and dirt from separating when the machine was turned on and the blades began to rotate.

Velazquez, 47, was conscious as the blades chopped his body and suffered before he died, said Chad Inderman, a trial lawyer in Lubbock who is representing Velazquez's widow, Olga Lidia Mendivil Soto.

"All that was left of him was his chest and his head," said Inderman. "It's horrible."

Nabors did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Nabors drilling rig is near Orla, close to the Texas border with New Mexico. Velazquez was working with a contracting firm hired to clean the equipment.

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Soto is seeking damages for pain and mental anguish along with punitive damages.