At least two people were killed and one person is missing after a fire broke out Friday at the Nohoch Alfa offshore platform at the Bay of Campeche, in the Gulf of Mexico, the state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said in a statement.
Some 321 workers out of the 328 who were working on the structure when the fire started have already been evacuated, according to Pemex. Four boats have been sent to control the fires on the oil platform.
The state-owned oil company said earlier that at least six were injured.
In the latest video statement posted to Pemex’s Twitter account, Pemex Director Octavio Romero Oropeza, said the two people who died and the one missing are from the company that was working at the facility and not from Pemex.
Oropeza said the part of the platform where the fire started has been completely destroyed, and that Pemex is investigating what caused the fire.
He said the firm is now focusing its efforts on looking for the missing person and resuming operations.
Some employees of other platforms told CNN Friday that the flames can be seen from the nearby platforms, so the incident appears to be of considerable magnitude.
During an earlier press conference, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that the blaze was being battled by Pemex firefighters and the Mexican Navy was also participating in the efforts.
Pemex, which has a long record of major industrial accidents at its facilities, said “it will continue to report on the control, extinction of the fire and damage assessment throughout the day.”
In 2021, a blaze that resembled a large “eye of fire” near a Pemex offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico was brought under control.
