Gulf of Mexico Oil Rig Blast leaves 12 missing
US coast guards said Wednesday that an explosion in an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico has left 12 people missing and seven critically injured.
Coast Guard informs the fire was still burning this morning.
The rig named Deepwater Horizon is owned by Transocean Ltd., exploded about 52 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana. Coast Guard crews are searching for twelve missing people who were in the rig during the explosion.
Officials say that several people were hospitalized, and at least two were taken to a mobile trauma center. The owners of the rig say there were 126 total crew members on board when fire broke out.
The company said most crew members are safe. Even though the cause of the accident was immediately unknown.
"A substantial majority of the 126-member crew is safe, but some crew members remain unaccounted for at this time," the company stated.
The company describes itself as the "world's largest offshore drilling contractor," saying it has 140 offshore drilling units.
"The names and hometowns of injured persons are being withheld until family members can be notified," the company commented.
The U.S. Coast Guard continues to search the waters in the Gulf of Mexico by others in the water near the platform with helicopters and boats.
The Coast Guard produced two videos related to the explosion. One shows an injured person being drawn into a rescue helicopter. The other clip shows a person being taken in a stretcher to the rescue helicopter in New Orleans.
