Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion Leaves Multiple People Injured

The explosion injured at least six people.

Authorities say one person remained missing after the blast and U.S. Coast Guard crews were searching for him.

O'Leary said the eight workers on the platform were a mix of Clovelly employees and contractor workers.

"We believe there's still one unaccounted for, although we're dealing with subcontractors and we're trying to get names of everybody to make sure", Lopinto said. He said they were doing maintenance work when the fire started, but he said he did not know the precise nature of their duties. He said the department's current goal is to stop oil flow and, if needed, let it burn off safely.

A fire on the platform that continued to burn overnight, wnet out just before noon Monday.

The Coast Guard will be conducting a water quality evaluation as well as the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

Two workers that were taken to the East Jefferson General Hospital and were later released.

Social media users reported hearing a loud noise that even rattled some homes. There is no active drilling on the lake, according to Jean Kelly of the state environmental department.

The platform is about 1 1/2 miles northwest of the Williams Boulevard boat launch in Kenner. Nor could he say how the workers were removed from the platform or what caused the fire.

The City of Kenner said in a Facebook post "cleaning chemicals ignited on the surface of the oil rig platform".

Lake Pontchartrain is north of New Orleans. The Sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Joseph P. Lopinto, III, said during a press conference late Sunday night that the one person unaccounted for is being treated as a search and rescue.

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, Jefferson County Parish and St. Charles Parish also have marine units on scene assisting.