An explosion on an oil platform south of Vermilion Bay sent the 13 people on board into the water Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m.
The incident happened 100 miles south of Vermillion Bay.
Coast Guard spokesman Bill Colclough said all 13 people have been accounted for and that one of them was injured. The injured person is going to be taken to Terrebonne General Medical Center.
The Coast Guard is saying that a mile-long oil sheen is spreading from the site of the Mariner Energy-owned platform.
“At 9:19 a.m., the Coast Guard received a call from neighboring platform was that platform 380 completely engulfed in flames,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal during an afternoon update on the fire.
As of 1 p.m., Jindal said that fire was still burning, though Mariner officials had told his office that the blaze had been contained and nearly burned out.
Mariner informed the governor that the platform had seven active wells on the platform, and that one of the seven wells caught fire, said Jindal.
Four Coast Guard choppers from New Orleans and four from Houston and a vessel were called to the scene.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau says some of those from the platform were spotted in emergency flotation devices.
The platform is about 200 miles west of BP's blown out Macondo well. On Friday, BP was expected to begin the process of removing the cap and failed blow-out preventer, another step toward completion of a relief well that would complete the choke of the well. The BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and setting off a massive oil spill.
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