Eleven crewmembers aboard an oil rig that exploded off the coast of Louisiana remained missing Wednesday afternoon as a team of U.S. Coast Guard cutters and rescue planes scoured the seas for survivors, USA Today reported.
Deepwater Horizon, a large deep-water drilling vessel, exploded at around 10 p.m. Tuesday, critically injuring seven of its crewmembers, Coast Guard spokeswoman Elizabeth Bordelon said. Of the 126 crewmembers, 115 have been accounted for, she said.
The Coast Guard said 17 were taken by air or sea to hospitals. Four were reported in critical condition with severe burns. Others suffered burns, broken legs and smoke inhalation.
Nearly 24 hours after the explosion, the rig continued to burn, and authorities could not say when the flames might die out. A column of boiling black smoke rose hundreds of feet over the Gulf of Mexico as fireboats shot streams of water at the blaze.
The rig is located around 52 miles south of Venice, La., in water around 5,000 feet deep, Bordelon said.The rig is designed to operate in water up to 8,000 feet deep and has a maximum drill depth of about 5.5 miles. It can accommodate a crew of up to 130.
Last September, the Deepwater Horizon set a world deepwater record when it drilled down just over 35,000 feet at another BP site in the Gulf of Mexico.