(MOBILE, Ala.) Coast Guard crews continue to search for two people after an oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana. The rig caught fire just before 9 Friday morning.
11 people were taken by helicopter to area hospitals. At least four people are critically injured with burns.
Oil isn't leaking but there is an oil sheen on the water that stretches about three miles. Officials say the fire and explosion came as workers were using a torch to cut a pipe that contained oil.
Despite earlier reports, there are no confirmed deaths. But, the search continues for the missing men. Coast Guard crews from here in Mobile are assisting in the effort.
It was another tragic oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. This time it happened aboard a Black Elk Energy platform just south of Grand Isle, Louisiana.
"At 9:10 this morning we received a call from our District 8 command center," said Commander David Saunders of the USCG Aviation Training Center.
Immediately after that call, Coast Guard crews took off from Mobile's ATC to help find two missing workers.
"We had an aircraft that was out doing a law enforcement patrol and they requested we divert that aircraft to a position about 20 miles to the southeast of Grand Isle," said Cmdr. Saunders.
An HC-144 airplane and a Jayhawk helicopter from Mobile are still searching the waters.
"One of the crewmen was here two years ago so he is familiar. The aircraft commander of the 144 was here during the Deepwater incident," said Saunders.
This time, officials don't anticipate a large environmental threat. The rig was not producing oil at the time of the explosion.
"There are 28 gallons that were in that three inch line that's 75 inches long. So 28 gallons of product," said Coast Guard Incident Commander Ed Cubanski. "But our primary concern right now is to look for two people missing, coordinate with the oil spill response organization to contain the pollution and then obviously the investigate the cause of the this incident."
Of course the BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion is still fresh on everyone's minds. Officials at the Coast Guard's Aviation Training Center say crews are always ready to assist when incidents like this occur. Crews will continue to search through the night.
