Looks like Deepwater Horizon all over again.
Mexico's state-controlled oil company Pemex reports that at least four are dead following an explosion and fire on an oil platform in the oil-rich Bay of Campeche, in the south of the Gulf of Mexico, early today.
Some 300 workers were evacuated, and as many as 45 workers were injured in the blaze, which broke out overnight on the Abkatun Permanente platform in the Bay of Campeche. The oil field beneath the platform produced approximately 12% of Mexico's oil in 2013.
Eight firefighting boats were combatting the blaze, and a contractor for Mexican oil services company Cotemar was among the dead, according to Pemex.
A survivor of the blaze on the Abkatun Permanente platform in the Campeche Sound told the New York Times that workers "jumped into the sea out of desperation and panic."
"There was nothing you could do but run," said Roger Arias Sanchez, an employee of Petroleos Mexicanos' contractor Cotemar who escaped the burning platform in an evacuation boat. He spoke in Ciudad del Carmen in Campeche state, where most of the injured and evacuated workers were taken.
Pemex's media office told the Times it was unclear if a significant amount of oil spilled from the shallow-water Abkatun Permanente platform, "which largely serves to separate gas, oil and other petroleum products, and pump them to refineries onshore."
Pemex has suffered a number of accidents in recent years. Some 37 people were killed in a blast at the company's Mexico City headquarters in 2013, and another 26 were killed at a fire in a Pemex natural gas facility in September 2012.
Sube a 4 el número de muertos por incendio en plataforma Abkatun Alfa de Pemex en Campeche http://t.co/rmbu602e3h pic.twitter.com/xMMthFhpSK
— Milenio.com (@Milenio) April 1, 2015
Pemex platform fire death toll raised to 4. 8 ships spraying the blaze. No information about whether or not underwater spill is occurring.
— Shannon Young (@SYoungReports) April 1, 2015
#México | #BREAKING : 45 hurt, 300 evacuated in fire on Mexico Pemex oil platform – Photo via @carlitosahm pic.twitter.com/R7i3qPAOzP
— WTNN English (@WTNNEnglish) April 1, 2015
Se incendia plataforma de @Pemex en la Sonda de
#Campeche; desalojan a 300 empleados http://t.co/Q8irNKdGk5 pic.twitter.com/CDoM8CDExy
— El Universal (@El_Universal_Mx) April 1, 2015
Incendio en la plataforma Abkatun Alfa en Campeche, desalojan a 300 trabajadores http://t.co/sGqGdDhT1y | #Abkatum pic.twitter.com/fUvyRJDfJx
— Grupo Presente (@DiarioPresente_) April 1, 2015
Mexico's #Pemex says fighting fire on #oil rig in Bay of Campeche, south fo Gulf of Mexico, evacuated 295 workers pic.twitter.com/6lACgt1rnz
— David Sheppard (@ReutersSheppard) April 1, 2015
7 lesionados sería el saldo del incendio en la plataforma Abkatun Alfa de Campeche confirma Pemex en comunicado pic.twitter.com/52EMOQpsud
— Cinco Radio (@JavierLopezDiaz) April 1, 2015
The energy officials who should be on the case:
Pemex Director General https://t.co/YF59wmZeSH
MX Energy Secretary https://t.co/pxiRZUvrux
— Shannon Young (@SYoungReports) April 1, 2015
Platform fire is happening as much of Mexico's bureaucracy is shutting down for Holy Week vacations. Will officials hold a press conference?
— Shannon Young (@SYoungReports) April 1, 2015
Will top officials put vacations on hold to coordinate public response to the accident or will they kick the task to the Pemex press office?
— Shannon Young (@SYoungReports) April 1, 2015
This Pemex platform fire is the first massive oil field accident since Mexico implemented energy reform. Watch how officials handle it.
— Shannon Young (@SYoungReports) April 1, 2015