Eight firefighting vessels with water cannon battled a blaze on a Mexican offshore oil platform, an inferno that killed four workers and forced 300 to be evacuated.
An explosion and fire erupted yesterday at the Abkatun A-Permanente platform operated by the Pemex state-run firm on the Gulf of Mexico's Campeche Sound, the ASEA energy safety agency said.
Some 16 hours later, Pemex reported that the fire was finally extinguished off the coast of eastern Campeche state. The blaze had started in the dehydration and pump area of the platform.
Pemex issued a statement saying that the fire "did not cause a spill into the sea" but that an oil leak occurred and was being contained by specialised ships.
The company said 16 people were hospitalised, including two in serious condition. A total of 45 people received medical attention, but most were released with minor injuries.
Some 300 workers were taken to other platforms in the area, while the injured were transported to Pemex's general hospital in Ciudad de Carmen.
AFP obtained a video taken from a boat showing huge flames and smoke engulfing much of the platform in the middle of the night.
Pemex director Emilio Lozoya said there will be little impact to production as the fire occurred on an oil processing rig, not a producing facility, and that the crude would be shipped to other locations.
