Two brothers were severely injured Saturday after a propane tank filed with anhydrous ammonia gas exploded.

The two brothers, Andrew and Ronnie O’Neal both of Sallisaw, suffered severe injuries and chemical burns. Andrew O’Neal was lifeflighted to St. Francis Medical Center in Tulsa and family members took Ronnie O’Neal to Sequoyah Memorial Hospital in Sallisaw.

Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart said deputies were dispatched three miles south of Sallisaw to Wild Horse Mountain Road Saturday afternoon. Lockhart said when Deputy Dennis Thomas arrived, Laverne O’Neal told him the explosions were made when her brother-in-law, Andrew O’Neal, was shot while he was cleaning a gun. Laverne O’Neal said family members took Andrew O’Neal to the hospital.

Thomas left the residence to check on the welfare of Andrew O’Neal at Sequoyah Memorial Hospital. He said when he arrived at the hospital he was told no one had arrived with a gunshot wound.

Meanwhile, calls about a man in Vian possibly being shot poured into the sheriff’s office. Lockhart said when he saw the wounds they didn’t appear to be gunshot wounds.

“It looked like this person had been blown up with something,” Lockhart said.

The man was later identified as Andrew O’Neal, the man Thomas had been looking for.

“Andrew was in pretty bad shape. His whole face had severe lacerations,” Lockhart said.

After Andrew O’Neal was taken to St. Francis, Thomas and Lockhart went to the residence on Wild Horse Mountain Road to do a welfare check.

“When I pulled in a man by the name of Richard M. Chambers was throwing rifles out of the window of the house,” Lockhart said.

Lockhart and Thomas found a blood trail that led them to a shed with items commonly used in a methamphetamine lab.

Lockhart said they backed out and obtained a search warrant for the residence. Deputies searched the residence and found a possible meth lab, a propane tank, and ammonia nitrate pellets.

Lockhart said no arrests have been made at this time.