Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) said that five people died, six were injured and two are missing as of Monday afternoon following a fire on Sunday on the E-Ku-A2 offshore platform, located in the Bay of Campeche.
One of the people who died during the incident was an employee at PEMEX while the other four were contractors from an oil company called Cotemar, PEMEX said in a statement.
Among those injured and missing were contractors from Cotemar and workers from condition and monitoring firm Bufete de Monitoreo de Conditions e Integridad (BMCI). PEMEX said that all six injured people are being treated in hospital with one in serious condition.
Pemex said the fire was brought under control about an hour and a half after it started on Sunday afternoon, the valves were closed immediately and the platform’s emergency plan was activated.
"At PEMEX, we are focusing our efforts on the care of the affected workers and their families, as well as on the exhaustive search for personnel reported missing," the company said. "PEMEX is carrying out an inspection of the facility to evaluate the damage and initiate a root-cause analysis to determine the origin."
PEMEX said the incident did not occur due to the lack of investment in maintenance of its facilities since the company has increased the budget, and safety is a priority for its workers, even above production.
“The oil industry is a risky business,” said PEMEX Director General Octavio Romero in a press briefing. “We have had accidents, which in numbers are less than in previous years.” The press conference was the first organized by PEMEX at headquarters in more than two years.
Mexican oil workers union Petroleros de la República Mexicana in a statement blamed “poor management” for “making the industry dangerous, which is not acceptable.”