One man is still missing after an explosion on an oil platform in Louisiana.
The US Coast Guard was alerted to the fire in Lake Pontchartrain near Kenner, Louisiana, on Sunday evening at 8pm.
Eight workers were thought to be on the platform at the time. Seven made it ashore and later transported to hospital.
“We believe that there is still one unaccounted for, although we are dealing with subcontractors and we’re trying to get names of everybody to make sure,” Sheriff Lopinto said.
Officials said they were approaching the missing man as “treating it as a search and rescue at this point”, according to Sheriff Lopinto.
Following the initial report, Sector New Orleans launched a Coast Guard Station New Orleans 29-foot Response Boat-Small boatcrew, a Station New Orleans 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew and a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter air crew.
Mike Guillot, the director of emergency medical services at East Jefferson Medical Hospital, told The Times-Picayune that five people were in critical condition with “blast-type injuries and burns,” while the other two were in stable condition.