Explosion and fire on the oil platform in Gulf of Mexico - 45 hurt and 300 evacuated
(Reuters) - Mexican state-run oil company Pemex said on Wednesday it had evacuated around 300 workers after a fire broke out on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, with local emergency services reporting that at least 45 people were injured.
At least one person, a contractor, was killed by the fire, according to a spokesperson for state oil company Pemex.
Pemex said on Twitter that eight firefighting boats were tackling the blaze, which erupted overnight on the Abkatun Permanente platform in the oil-rich Bay of Campeche.
7 lesionados sería el saldo del incendio en la plataforma Abkatun Alfa de Campeche confirma Pemex en comunicado pic.twitter.com/52EMOQpsud
- Cinco Radio (@JavierLopezDiaz) April 1, 2015
#México #BREAKING : 45 hurt, 300 evacuated in fire on Mexico Pemex oil platform - Photo via @carlitosahm pic.twitter.com/R7i3qPAOzP
- WTNN English (@WTNNEnglish) April 1, 2015
Se incendia plataforma de @Pemex en la Sonda de #Campeche; desalojan a 300 empleados http://t.co/Q8irNKdGk5 pic.twitter.com/CDoM8CDExy
- El Universal (@El_Universal_Mx) April 1, 2015
Incendio en la plataforma Abkatun Alfa en Campeche, desalojan a 300 trabajadores http://t.co/sGqGdDhT1y #Abkatum pic.twitter.com/fUvyRJDfJx
- Grupo Presente (@DiarioPresente_) April 1, 2015
Mexico's #Pemex says fighting fire on #oil rig in Bay of Campeche, south fo Gulf of Mexico, evacuated 295 workers pic.twitter.com/6lACgt1rnz
- David Sheppard (@ReutersSheppard) April 1, 2015
A spokesman for emergency services in the city of Ciudad del Carmen said authorities had registered 45 people injured so far due to the blaze.
The spokesman said no fatalities were reported, though local Mexican media said that at least one person had died.
The platform forms part of the Abkatun-Pol-Chuc offshore complex. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, production at the complex has fallen steadily since the 1990s to below 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2013.
Mexico currently produces just under 2.3 million bpd.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the fire in the Gulf, which is home to Mexico's biggest oil field.
Pemex has suffered a number of accidents in recent years, with at least 37 people killed by a blast at the company's Mexico City headquarters in 2013. Another 26 people were killed at a fire in a Pemex natural gas facility in September 2012.
(Reuters reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Matt Johnston contributed to this report.
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