A burning oil rig sank today off the Gulf of Mexico while the search continued for 11 people, dpa cited the US Coast Guard as saying. Seventeen people were injured, seven of them critically, after an explosion Tuesday night on the Deepwater Horizons rig owned by Transocean Ltd, about 84 kilometres southeast of Venice, Louisiana. Transocean said in a statement that the rig was staffed with a 126-member crew, and 115 were safely evacuated. The cause of the blast was being investigated by the Mineral Management Service and Coast Guard. The rig was a mobile unit that moved to different locations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard confirmed that an "active search and rescue operation" continued with two cutters on the scene. Two aircraft were also at the accident site to assist the search efforts. The Coast Guard said 17 sorties were completed and approximately 5,025 square kilometres have been searched. Crude oil was leaking from the rig at the rate of about 8,000 barrels per day, Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler said. The Coast Guard was preparing for possible leaks of up to 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel, but there was not much else that could be done until the fire was put out, Butler told broadcaster CNN.
