Update: Gulf of Mexico Oil Rig Explosion

Update: There were various reports that the 11 missing people had been found. Unfortunately, this was misreported- sadly they are still missing.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported this morning that at least 11 people were missing after an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. It is now being reported that the 11 missing people have been rescued. The oil rig that is currently contracted to British oil major BP PLC went up in flames late Tuesday night. At the time of the explosion 126 people were on board. 15 were injured, seven in critical condition, 2 were taken to trauma centers. Midday today the rig was still burning. Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry said, "It's burning pretty good and there's no estimate on when the fire will be put out." At this time it's unclear what caused the oil rig explosion.

A spokesman Greg Panagos from Transocean, the company that owns and operates the rig, said, "Anytime an incident like this happens, it's a huge deal to us. We don't want to see anybody hurt and we'll do everything we can to take care of the crew."

"Fires on oil rigs are rare because engineers design them with safety in mind, said Greg McCormack, director of the Petroleum Extension Service for the University of Texas at Austin. They've built safety into the rigs. They've built safety into the operations, because they know that if you have a fire on an isolated rig that's out in the Gulf, you have a real issue," McCormack said Wednesday (CNN)."



Sources:
cnn.com
msnbc.com