An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing 13 people into the water, one of whom was injured, the US Coast Guard said, Press TV reported.
"All 13 are accounted for and they are all wearing some sort of an immersion suit that protects them from the water," Coast Guard chief petty officer John Edwards told MSNBC, adding that the extent of any injuries suffered by the workers was not immediately clear.
The Coast Guard said that a one-mile-long slick is spreading from the oil rig, citing a report from rig workers who jumped into the sea.
The new blast has raised fresh pollution concerns in the region, as the rig was still ablaze.
The Mariner Energy-owned rig explosion comes more than four months after a blast on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and unleashed an environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.
Another oil rig blast hits Gulf of Mexico
