Offshore Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf of Mexico

Crews sit in the Gulf of Mexico, USA at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on 03 August 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

An explosion has torn through an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the blast in April that caused a huge oil spill.

The blast, which threw 13 people into the water, was reported by a commercial helicopter company about 0930 local time (1330 GMT).

The platform, reportedly still on fire, was not producing oil or gas, the Department of Homeland Security said.

All 13 people have been accounted for, said Petty Officer Bill Colclough of the Coast Guard. All are headed to a hospital in Terrebonne Parish, he said.

Colclough told CNN that authorities are trying to determine the cause of the blast, and that the platform apparently is still on fire. Asked whether a leak has resulted from the explosion, he said the structure "was not actively producing any product."

"We do not know if there are any additional concerns of pollution," Colclough said.

He said Coast Guard helicopters and cutters are en route to the scene.

The blast occurred around 130km (80 miles) south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast.

All 13 workers who fell into the Gulf are accounted for, the Coastguard said. One person is reportedly injured.

The platform is owned by Mariner Energy and is located in approximately 2,500ft (762m) of water, the Coast Guard said.

The latest explosion comes more than four months after an blast ripped through a Deepwater Horizon rig run by BP, causing about hundreds of million gallons of oil to be released into the Gulf of Mexico.

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