Lawco.com

VENICE, LA – An explosion has occurred on Transocean’s oil rig, “Deepwater Horizon”, in The Gulf of Mexico about 52 miles south of Venice, LA. The explosion, which happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday night, forced all personnel to abandon ship. The USCG is on the scene, along with several other vessels, conducting search patterns for the missing.

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser in an interview with WDSU.com, said there were 15 people still not accounted for. He said that earlier the Coast Guard located and had a visual contact with one of the rescue capsules off the rig but didn’t know if all of the missing people were on there now…

There were a total of 126 workers with 15 still unaccounted for. Four were airlifted to the Belle Chasse Naval Air Station. Two of the four have been released and two others remain there in critical condition, Nungesser reported.

Seven workers were reported critically injured. In a statement from the Coast Guard, “Three were met by ambulance at Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans; two were medevaced to West Jefferson hospital in New Orleans, LA. by air ambulance and two were flown to Mobile Trauma Center in Mobile, Ala.”

Two of the rescue boats that turned up on the scene had medical facilities on the boats. These are research vessels and they were able to treat some of the minor injuries on the scene offshore as the workers were rescued out of the water.

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The platform, which remains on fire, is a large drilling rig. It’s one of the large floaters in the deep waters so it’s a massive facility and it is leaning very badly to one side. The coast guard commander told Nungesser that there was a good chance it would roll over later on in the day.

“It’s burning pretty good and there’s no estimate on when the fire will be put out,” Coast guard commander O’Berry said.

There are four fire vessels fighting the flames on the scene.

The company said its emergency and family response teams are working with the Coast Guard and lease operator BP Exploration & Production in a coordinated effort. The names and hometowns of injured persons are being withheld until family members can be notified.

Transocean is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor and the leading provider of drilling management services worldwide.

The rig named “Deepwater Horizon” is operated by Transocean, which is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor.

WDSU.com contributed to this story.

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The law firm of Gordon, Elias & Seely, L.L.P. is quite versed in successfully suing Transocean. Just this year alone, they represented the family of one of the most deadly accidents that ever occurred in Transocean’s history. If you or a family member have been affected by this tragedy, contact their maritime lawyers directly at 800-773-6770, 713-668-9999, or 800-491-3377. Their lawyers are licensed in Texas and their offices are in Houston where Transocean is situated. Additionally, Steve Gordon is licensed in Louisiana.