Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Up to 12 Missing After Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion

   VOA News 21 April 2010
   A  fire  aboard  the  mobile  offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon
   burns  52-miles  southeast  of  Venice,  La. Helicopters, ships and an
   airplane  searched  waters off Louisiana's coast Wednesday for missing
   workers after an explosion and fire that left an offsh

Photo: AP

   A  fire  aboard  the  mobile  offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon
   burns  52-miles  southeast  of  Venice,  La. Helicopters, ships and an
   airplane  searched  waters off Louisiana's coast Wednesday for missing
   workers  after  an  explosion  and fire that left an offshore drilling
   platform tilting in the Gulf of Mexico, 21 April 2010

   The U.S. Coast Guard says it is searching for as many as 12 people who
   are missing following an explosion at an oil rig off the southern U.S.
   coast.
   The  Coast  Guard  says  the explosion late Tuesday also injured seven
   people at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, located in the Gulf of Mexico
   about 84 kilometers from the state of Louisiana.
   Officials  say  they have sent helicopters, a rescue plane and several
   boats  to the scene. The injured were evacuated to area hospitals. The
   Coast Guard continued battling a fire on the rig early Wednesday.
   It  says  126  people  were  on the rig at the time of the incident. A
   Coast Guard statement says the rig has been evacuated.
   The cause of the explosion is not yet known.
   The  oil  rig is owned by Transocean, an offshore drilling contractor.
   Transocean  issued  a  statement  saying  it is working with the Coast
   Guard to search for its missing crew members.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

.