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.

Workers Missing After Oil-Rig Explosion - 11 remain missing

Twelve people were missing and seven critically injured after an explosion and fire at an oil-drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. A Coast Guard rescue helicopter and crew document the fire aboard the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, while searching for survivors. .The rig, about 41 miles off the Louisiana coast, is owned and operated by Transocean Ltd. and contracted to British oil major BP PLC. A spokesman for Transocean said most of the 126 people on board were safe. A Coast Guard spokeswoman said 12 were still missing but said reports indicated that all 126 people got off the rig. The rig was still burning and listing. Four Coast Guard helicopters and an airplane are being used in rescue operations and five Coast Guard cutters are also responding, the Coast Guard said. "We are still in a search and rescue operation," Transocean spokesman Greg Panagos said. Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, has said that the missing people were in a lifeboat that drifted away from the rig while rescue workers were helping others. __________________________________ 11 remain missing on Thrusday::: One lawsuit filed

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawsuit is claiming the companies involved in an oil platform explosion off the Louisiana coast were negligent. The lawsuit was filed in New Orleans on Thursday on behalf of a Mississippi man who worked on the rig and is one of 11 people still missing after the blast. The lawsuit says Shane Roshto, of Amite (Ah-mit) County, Miss., was thrown overboard in the Tuesday night explosion and is feared dead. The rig is owned by Transocean Ltd. and was under contract to oil giant BP. Both are defendants in the lawsuit. A Transocean spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment and BP wouldn't discuss the suit.

Hospital Releases Two People In Tugboat Explosion

ESCATAWPA, Mississippi - There's new information on an explosion aboard a tug boat that killed two people. It happened Friday afternoon at the VT Halter ship terminal in Esctawpa, Mississippi along the Pascagoula River.Four people were hurt. Company officials are not releasing names, but a friend of one of the injured identifies him as Robert Nettles of Grand Bay. He was being transferred from Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula to USA Medical Center in Mobile, where another victim was taken by LifeFlight earlier in the afternoon. Company officials said the explosion happened aboard a tugboat. William Skinner, the Chief Executive Officer of VT Halter Marine, said, "They were cleaning a tank, getting it prepared to be painted." The family spoke out here.

Pine Key Boat Explosion - "Bodies All Over the Beach"

PINE KEY - FOX 13 has obtained new photos of a boat explosion just moments after it happened. Tammy Connolly was visiting Pine Key, also known as Beer Can Island, with her husband and a few friends when the boat blew up.“We were on the opposite side of the island when the boat exploded,” she said. “We weren’t there five minutes when we heard this huge explosion. It sounded like a cannon at Gasparilla.” That’s when Connolly grabbed her camera and started taking pictures. “I was hesitant to go over there at first because it was scary,” she said. “There were bodies all over the beach.”