Gulf of Mexico accident kills 18 (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

(CNN) -- At least 18 oil workers were killed and seven more were missing after a portable drilling rig crashed into an oil platform during stormy seas in the Gulf of Mexico, the country's state-owned oil company said Wednesday.

According to a statement from Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, 61 workers were rescued from the Gulf after Tuesday's accident, which also created a gas and oil leak at the site that was not expected to be capped for three to five days.

The drill rig was knocked into the platform during a storm in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, with 80 mph (130 km/h) winds and waves reaching 26 feet (8 meters).

The rig had been set up next to the oil platform to begin drilling a new well, when the wind and waves pushed it into the platform.
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http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/10/25/mexico.oil.deaths/index.html

Coal miners tend to die by crushing or asphyxiation ... oil workers tend to drown or die in helicopter crashes. Getting all that "free" energy out of the ground comes at a high price.

[XemaSab]

1. To be fair, most oil companies have really stringent safety standards in the US

My last company worked for oil and gas companies, and even though I didn't work on those sites, safety was the highest priority in everything we did because oil and gas companies would look at the overall injury rate for the company.

Therefore, an office of 100 people, most of whom were working in the field, had one injury last year: a tick bite that needed antibiotics. :)