An oil-drilling platform was damaged when it collided with a production platform in the Gulf of Mexico, and an unspecified amount of oil leaked from the rig, Mexico's state-owned oil company said Wednesday. Pemex said 81 workers had evacuated the Usumacinta drilling platform in life rafts Tuesday, and that the company, helped by the Mexican navy, was trying to pick them up from stormy waters. Pemex director Jesus Reyes Heroles told Televisa television that ships had located life rafts holding an estimated 75 workers, but the rough weather had prevented them from rescuing them. “The waves are so strong that we have been unable to carry out that maneuver,” Reyes said, adding he was unable to confirm unofficial reports that two workers may have died. The accident was caused by a Gulf storm that has brought high winds, rain, and cold weather to much of southern Mexico, Pemex said. The Usumacinta platform, owned by a subcontractor, struck a light production platform called Kab 101, about 30 kilometers offshore from the port of Dos Bocas in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco, Pemex said. Pemex said it had dispatched repair teams, but the oil leak continued through the afternoon. The company said it will send more teams as soon as weather allows. “A leakage of gas and oil occurred” after waves as high as 5 meters and strong winds caused part of the drilling rig to collide with the other platform, Pemex said.
