Seven Injured, One Person Missing After Oil Rig Explosion North Of New Orleans
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NEW ORLEANS (CBSMiami) – An oil rig explosion Sunday on Lake Pontchartrain, North of New Orleans, has left several injured and spurred a search for one person listed as missing.
U.S. Coast Guard crews say current search conditions are deteriorating Monday as high waves hamper efforts to search for an 8th victim who has been listed as missing after the blast.
The Coast Guard says it will re-assess search conditions as the day progresses. The family of the missing man has been notified.
Five of the injured people were hospitalized with "blast-type injuries and burns," Mike Guillot, director of East Jefferson Emergency Medical Services, told reporters.
He says two burn patients are currently in critical condition. One patient is in ICU. Four other patients from the two hospitals who took in the blast victims have been discharged.
"Authorities on the scene report that cleaning chemicals ignited on the surface of the oil rig platform," the City of Kenner Government posted on its Facebook page Sunday evening.
The platform, located in Jefferson Parish, is used for the transfer of oil, said Chief David Tibbets of the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department.
He said the department's current goal is to stop oil flow and, if needed, let it burn off safely.
Jefferson Parish East Bank Consolidated Fire Chief Dave Tibbetts said Monday morning that the gas line has been shut off but it will be a while before all the residual gas is burned off.
Authorities acknowledged there was a possibility that the fire meant oil could be leaking into the lake, but noted that Jefferson Parish drinking water will remain safe because it is pulled from the Mississippi River.
The Coast Guard will be conducting a water quality evaluation as well as the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.
The platform is located in shallow water about a mile and a half from the Kenner boat launch.
Jefferson Parish officials say the workers were cleaning chemicals aboard the platform but the exact cause of the fire is not yet known.
Arson investigators will determine the cause after the fire has burned out.
