Oil Rig Explodes on Earth Day;11 Missing is a copyrighted article from the World Correspondents
NEW ORLEANS-A roaring sound of explosion jolted a huge oil drilling platform and lit up the sky by huge flames.
Eleven workers were missing on Wednesday, after the explosion on Tuesday which occured off the Louisiana Coast near New Orleans.
Rescuers still was not able to locate the missing crew members.
The blast which occured on Tuesday night aboard the Deep Water Horizon rig 50 miles away from the Louisiana coast has been said to be one of the nation’s deadliest off-shore drilling accidents of the past half-century.
Maritime officials believe most of the 126 people on board escaped after the explosion, which occured at around 10pm.
The rig is designed to function and operate 8,000 feet deep. The explosion took place in 5,000 feet of water.It is a semi-submersible rig which has a maximum drill depth 5.5 miles and can accomodate 130 crew members aboard.