A gas platform explosion off Mexico injures 6 workers and leaves several missing, officials say

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An explosion at an offshore gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico left six workers injured and several others missing, Mexican officials said Friday.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at his daily morning press briefing that “three or four” people were missing following the fire at the Nohoch gas transfer platform.

The state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, said in a statement six workers were injured in the blast early Friday at the platform it operates. Such platforms compress gas from oil fields and pump it through pipelines.

The company said seven ships evacuated 321 workers from the platform. Photos in local media showed towering flames billowing from the platform, located offshore from the Gulf coast states of Tabasco and Campeche.