Mexico oil platform fire kills 4, injures 16

[ 02 April 2015 05:50 ]

Mexican state-run oil company Pemex said in a statement on Wednesday that the blaze erupted overnight on the Abkatun Permanente platform in the oil-rich Bay of Campeche.

"Regrettably, the death of four workers in the accident on the Abkatun A-Permanente platform has been confirmed," Pemex wrote on Twitter.

The firm says that at least two of the injured workers are in critical condition. 

Meanwhile, a spokesman for emergency services in the nearby city of Ciudad del Carmen has said as many as 45 people were injured in the blaze.

The blast took place at 3:40 a.m. in the dehydration and pump area of the platform, located off the coast of eastern Campeche state, the ASEA energy safety agency said in a separate statement.