On Sunday, October 15, night an explosion took place on an oil rig platform in Lake Pontchartrain, located north-west of New Orleans. According to The New York Times, the explosion occurred near Kenner and St. Charles Parish after 7 p.m. In a press conference, Sheriff Joe Lopinto from the Jefferson Parish stated that at least 7 people were injured in the explosion and were subsequently admitted to a hospital.
Lopinto added that the police is working in tandem with the subcontractors of the oil rig to get the names of all those who were present at the time of the explosion.
The Sheriff also revealed that one person was believed to be missing from the explosion site and a search was ongoing. However, on a positive note, no deaths were reported since the explosion took place.
The rescue operations
Sgt. Brian McGregor, the spokesman for Kenner Police Department, shared that rescue boats were deployed on Sunday evening itself. The rescue boats are working in tandem with Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office to expedite the rescue operations. Mike Guillot from the East Jefferson Emergency Medical Services stated that the injuries sustained by those rescued were serious. Five of the seven people rescued were taken to the University Medical Center for treatment of burns and injuries generally sustained from a blast site.
Three of the blast victims are in critical condition.
The other two blast victims were admitted to the burn unit at East Jefferson General Hospital and are currently stable. While the situation is under control, the authorities revealed that one person was missing.
According to a press release, Antwan Harris, the Jefferson Parish spokesman, the Emergency Operations center received reports of smoke and fire being detected from the lake at around 7:15 p.m.
on October 15. He further added that after the reports came in, a number of people were rescued from the blast site while the fire was raging.
Explosion heard miles from miles away
The authorities are yet to declare the cause of the explosion, which is still being investigated. However, the City of Kenner’s Facebook page noted that authorities present on the blast site apparently reported that ignition of “cleaning chemicals” could have caused the oil rig explosion.
The people living in the nearby areas took to Twitter to share that the intensity of the blast shook their houses. Although the intensity of the explosion may have been massive, the mayor of Kenner, Ben Zahn reported that none of the homes on the land were damaged.
