Cepropie
Rescuers work to extinguish a fire on the Nohoch Alfa oil platform.
CNN –
At least two people have been killed and one person is missing after a fire broke out on the Nohoch Alfa offshore platform in Campeche Bay in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said in a statement.
According to Pemex, 321 of the 328 workers working on the structure when the fire broke out have already been evacuated. Four boats were dispatched to fight the fires on the oil platform.
At least six were injured, the state-owned oil company previously said.
In the latest video statement released on Pemex’s Twitter account, Pemex director Octavio Romero Oropeza said the two people who died and the one missing were from the company working at the facility, not Pemex.
Oropeza said the part of the platform where the fire broke out was completely destroyed and Pemex is investigating what caused the fire.
He said the company is now focusing its efforts on finding the missing person and resuming operations.
Some employees at other platforms told CNN on Friday that the flames could be seen from nearby platforms, indicating the incident was significant.
During an earlier press conference, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the fire was being fought by Pemex firefighters and that the Mexican Navy was also involved in the effort.
Pemex, which has a long history of serious industrial accidents at its facilities, said: “It will report throughout the day on control, fire extinguishing and damage assessment.”
In 2021, a fire resembling a large “eye of fire” was brought under control near a Pemex offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico.