At least 12 missing after blast on oil rig in Gulf

By the CNN Wire Staff
April 21, 2010 11:18 a.m. EDT



(CNN) -- At least 12 people were missing and seven were critically injured after an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The explosion happened about 10 p.m. CT (11 p.m. ET) Tuesday on a rig named the Deepwater Horizon. It was about 52 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, said Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry.

The fire was still burning Wednesday morning, the Coast Guard said.

At the time of the explosion, 126 were on board the rig, O'Berry said.

The Coast Guard said it sent helicopters from New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, to help evacuate people from the rig and look for the missing. The Coast Guard also sent four cutters to the rig.

Several people were hospitalized, including at least two, who were taken to a mobile trauma center.

The company that owns the rig, Transocean Ltd., said most crew members are safe.

"A substantial majority of the 126-member crew is safe, but some crew members remain unaccounted for at this time," the company said.

The company describes itself as the "world's largest offshore drilling contractor," saying it has 140 offshore drilling units.

Transocean said its crisis teams are working with the Coast Guard and lease operator BP Exploration & Production Inc. to "care for all rig personnel and search for missing rig personnel."

"The names and hometowns of injured persons are being withheld until family members can be notified," the company said.

The Coast Guard released two videos related to the blast.

One shows an injured person being hauled into a rescue helicopter.

"The survivor is just outside the cabin -- take it up slow, take it up slow," a voice instructs as a basket carrying the person is winched up from the platform. A rescuer steadies the cable with his hand and stops the basket's spinning as the survivor reaches the helicopter.

The video shows a rescuer on the platform moving away from the basket after it lifts off.

The other clip shows a person being taken by stretcher off a Coast Guard rescue helicopter in New Orleans.

"Bring me two cots," an emergency worker shouts as the first stretcher is wheeled away from the HH-60 helicopter.