(New York Times) -At least 10 workers were killed when a drilling platform hit an oil rig, spilling gas and oil into the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico's state-owned oil company said Wednesday. About 18 other workers were reported missing or in life rafts awaiting rescue.
Rescuers have pulled 58 oil workers from storm-tossed waters but have yet to control the oil leak, Mexico's oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said in a news release.
The company said it had located some workers in a raft, but "weather conditions in the area have made it impossible to reach the vessel."
The company said 81 workers abandoned the Usumacinta drilling platform on Tuesday after it hit a rig amid 25-foot waves and winds gusting to 80 miles per hour. The platform is owned by a subcontractor.
It was not immediately clear how much gas and oil had spilled from the accident, which occurred about 20 miles off the port of Dos Bocas in the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco.