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VENICE - At least 11 people were missing and seven injured after an explosion and fire at an oil drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana, the Coast Guard said Wednesday. Some Acadia residents were among the missing, however, their names are being withheld pending next of kin.
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NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Coast Guard said 12 oil workers missing after a rig explosion off Louisiana have not been found, contrary to a report by a local government official.
"We have not. We're still searching," said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Sue Kerver, noting that the Coast Guard is the lead agency for the search and rescue effort.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser had earlier told NBC affiliate WDSU that he received reports that the workers were alive and safe.
He had also posted online that he had gotten reports that "the life raft with the remaining people unnaccounted for was found and all are being brought to safety."
Nungesser later updated his post with an apology, saying "we received third hand information that was believed to be credible."
Fifteen other workers were injured, including seven critically, after the explosion that left the offshore drilling rig listing at 70 degrees and on fire in the Gulf of Mexico.
Most of the 126 people on the rig, called Deepwater Horizon, escaped safely after the explosion at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry said.
However Coast Guard spokeswoman Katherine McNamara told msnbc.com that 15 had been injured, seven critically.
'Burning pretty good'
The rig, about 52 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, was still burning Wednesday and had been listing at about 10 degrees when it tilted further.
"It's burning pretty good and there's no estimate on when the fire will be put out," O'Berry said.
O'Berry said many workers who escaped the rig were being brought to land on a workboat.
O'Berry said at one point the fire was so large and intense that it was hampering rescue efforts, WWL TV reported.
The rig was drilling but was not in production, according to Greg Panagos, spokesman for its owner, Transocean Ltd., in Houston. The rig was under contract to BP PLC.
"As far as we know there have been no fatalities, but this could change," Panagos was quoted as saying by the website Upstreamonline.com.
"Injured personnel are receiving medical treatment as necessary," the statement added. "The names and hometowns of injured persons are being withheld until family members can be notified."
BP spokesman David Nicholas said all six BP personnel who had been on the rig were safe.
Kerver said the Coast Guard and the federal Minerals Management Service will work together to investigate possible causes of the accident.
"It's still too early to tell the cause," Panagos said. "Our focus right now is on taking care of the people."
The Coast Guard statement included a next-of-kin hotline number, (832) 587-8554.
O'Berry said Coast Guard environmental teams were on standby in Morgan City, La., to assess any environmental damage once the fire was out.
18,000 gallons spilled in early April
According to Transocean's website, the Deepwater Horizon is 396 feet long and 256 feet wide. The semi-submersible rig was built in 2001 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard in South Korea. The site is known as the Macondo prospect, in 5,000 feet of water.
The rig is designed to operate in water depths up to 8,000 feet and has a maximum drill depth of about 5.5 miles. It can accommodate a crew of up to 130.
The rig is floated to drilling sites, and has pontoons and a column that submerge when flooded with seawater. The rig doesn't touch the sea floor, but sits low in the water, where it is moored by several large anchors.
Last September, the Deepwater Horizon set a world deepwater record when it drilled down just over 35,000 feet at another BP site in the Gulf of Mexico, Panagos said.
"It's one of the more advanced rigs out there," he said.
Panagos did not know how much the rig cost to build, but said a similar rig today would run $600 million to $700 million.
Transocean has 14 rigs working in the Gulf and 140 worldwide.
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<p>VENICE - At least 11 people were missing and seven injured after an explosion and fire at an oil drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana, the Coast Guard said Wednesday. Some Acadia residents were among the missing, however, their names are being withheld pending next of kin.<br />
Most of the 126 people were believed to have escaped safely after the explosion at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Coast Guard Chief Petty OfficerMike O’Berry said. It happened about 52 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana’s tip.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lakearthurtoday.com/content/explosion-oil-platform-leaves-7-injured-11-missing">read more</a></p>
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An oil rig exploded approximately 52 miles southwest of Venice Tuesday evening leaving 15 workers injured, seven of them critically, and 12 missing. It is unknown whether any of the missing men were from Acadia Parish as their names were being withheld until all their families could be contacted.
The rig was drilling but was not in production, according to a spokesman for it’s owner, Transocean Ltd., in Houston. The rig was under contract to British Petroleum.
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A local government official said he had heard that 11 workers missing shortly after a drilling rig exploded and caught fire off Louisiana were found, but the U.S. Coast Guard was quick to say that it could not confirm the report.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told reporters that he received reports that the workers are alive and safe.
He had earlier posted online that he had gotten reports that “the life raft with the remaining people unnaccounted for was found and all are being brought to safety.”
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Helicopters and boats continue to search the Gulf of Mexico for any sign of 11 workers missing after an oil rig exploded Tuesday night. The Transocean Ltd rig "Deepwater Horizon" burst into flames about ten o'clock, 52 miles south of Venice, Louisiana.
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Lafayette's Raymond Mouton and Marc Creswell with Acadian Ambulance were called to duty Tuesday night after learning about an off shore explosion. Creswell, former Acadian paramedic of the year, now operations manager says there was no time to waste. "This aircraft picked me up at my home and we responded out there and were on target about 90 minutes later." Riding in the Air Med chopper, Creswell and Mouton wore night vision goggles to see through the smoke. Creswell says the fire was so strong it could be seen from 70 miles away. "I would say it's the biggest oil field disaster probably in the last twenty years."