Offshore oil rig explodes in Gulf


The U.S. Coast Guard reported the oil platform that caught fire off the Louisiana coast Friday has been extinguished, and there is little chance of an oil spill.

Commander Ed Cubanski of Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans said in a noon news conference there had been no confirmed deaths, refuting earlier reports of two who died.

A total of 11 people had been taken to area hospitals by helicopter, and the USCG is searching for two missing people, Cubanski said. There had been 26 workers onboard the platform but four had left as before the fire started around 8:42 a.m.

The 11 remaining people have left the platform. Cubanski also said there was an oil sheen about 1/2 mile long and 200 meters wide, but Coast Guard are working with the Bureau of Environmental Safety.

The rig appears to be structurally sound and not a spill risk, he added..

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According to a Plaquemines Parish, LA, news release, 28 workers had been on the platform when it exploded around 9:15 a.m. CT. The release stated two people were dead, two more were missing and four were in critical condition and flown to a hospital.
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