exploding oil rig

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1:52pm -- UPDATE: All 13 oil platform workers were rescued from the water by an offshore service vessel, the Crystal Clear, reports The New York Post. They were taken to a nearby platform. All were being flown to the Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma to be checked over.

“Thirteen people were seen huddled together in the water wearing gumby suits or immersion suits, water protection suits, so we were able to confirm that all people were accounted for,” Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.

September 2, 2010: Breaking news from the already embattled cost of Louisiana -- there was another oil rig explosion in the Gulf Coast today.

The Coast Guard is responding to a rig explosion 80 miles south of Grand Isle, reports WWL-TV.

13 people were on the rig and all have been accounted for at this time. The 13 people are overboard, but are reportedly wearing suits to protect them from hypothermia or injury.

According to the Coast Guard, the explosion happened 80 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana. WWL-TV says it is offshore, west of Lafayette and south of Vermillion Bay.

The Coast Guard says the rig is owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy ... The rig is on fire and one person is reportedly injured.

CNN is now reporting that the explosion occurred on a "platform" which is different form an "oil rig," and that the impact of this explosion will not be anywhere near that of BP's Deep Water Horizon oil rig explosion.

Petty Officer Bill Colclough of the Coast Guard told CNN that authorities are trying to determine the cause of the blast, and that the rig is still on fire. Asked whether a leak has resulted from the explosion, he said the rig "was not actively producing any product."

"We do not know if there are any additional concerns of pollution," Colclough said.

Coast Guard helicopters and cutters are en route to the scene. The Survivors Club will update you as we learn more.
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