Coast Guard Continues Searching for Missing Workers in Oil Rig/Platform Explosion

At least four Mississippi men were among 11 workers missing after an oil rig explosion off the Louisiana coast. The Coast Guard continued its search by sea and air Thursday as anxious families huddled around telephones awaiting hourly updates from authorities. "We're all just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and hoping for good news. And praying about it," said 23-year-old Andrea Cochran, whose father, Dewey Revette, was among the missing. Revette, a 48-year-old from Wayne County in southeast Mississippi, worked as a driller on the rig and has been with rig owner Transocean Ltd. for 29 years. Several people from Wayne County, near the Alabama line, were on the rig. Like much of Mississippi, Wayne County is a rural area with few high-paying jobs, so many of the men there head for the oil fields to support their families.