4 Dead After Fire Erupts on Mexican Oil Rig in Gulf Of Mexico

By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

April 1,2015; 9:42PM,EDT

 

Four people were killed and 16 were injured after flames erupted on a Mexican oil rig early Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reports.
There is no evidence of a major oil spill following the fire, the AP said, citing state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Authorities continue to investigate what led to the fire.
In a news release, Pemex said immediately following the incident 300 workers were evacuated to other areas of the Abkatun platform in the Campeche Sound. The 16 victims who suffered injuries were taken to a local hospital in the city of El Carmen. Eight firefighting boats were used to combat the blaze, the company said.
The Abkatun platform sits just off the coast of Mexican states Campeche and Tabasco.
The weather early Wednesday morning was fair, with light winds around, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews said. The weather in the region won't change any time soon, with very little chance of rain through Friday, he added. Winds will be around 12-17 mph.
This frame grab of a video from the news station Noticias Ciudad del Carmen shows a fire burning at an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico along the Mexican coast before sunrise on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. The fire broke out overnight at the Abkatun Permanente platform, located in the Campeche Sound, near the coast of the Mexican states of Campeche and Tabasco. (AP Photo/Noticias Ciudad del Carmen via APTN)