Latest Headlines
- ‘Jeff Bergosh Is Grateful’ — Longtime Public Servant Says Goodbye At Last Commission Meeting
- Ernest Ward Middle School Honors Veterans (With Photo Gallery)
- Two Injured In Single Vehicle Crash Near Century
- Former Ernest Ward Middle School Bookkeeper Charged With Embezzling Over $50,000
- What Happens To Ernest Ward Middle Groups That Are Missing Thousands Of Dollars?
- Inez Chancery of McDavid Celebrating 102nd Birthday
- Escambia Elections Boss: Election Was Smooth, Turnout Exceeds 75%
- SEC Soccer Tournament Draws Thousands To Escambia County, National TV Coverage
- Local Students Attend SEC Soccer Tournament
- Steven Barry Keeps Escambia County Commission District 5 Seat For Fourth Term
Two Dead In Gulf Oil Rig Explosion
November 17, 2012
Coast Guard crews are searching for two missing crew members following a platform explosion about 20 miles southeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana, Friday morning.
Eleven crew members were airlifted from the Black Elk Energy-owned platform to various local hospitals. Nine more crew members were safely evacuated off the platform. The fire has been extinguished, and a sheen has been spotted in the area.
The Coast Guard is currently searching with response boats from Coast Guard Stations Grand Isle and Venice, the 87-foot Coast Guard Cutters Pelican and Razorbill, an HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft crew and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Aviation Training Center in Mobile, and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station New Orleans.
The cause of the incident is under investigation.
The explosion came a day after BP reached agreement with U.S. prosecutors to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay a record $4.5 billion in penalties for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident.
Pictured top: An oil platform burns in the Gulf of Mexico Friday. Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments