30 missing, 1 dead after oil platform fire
BAKU, Azerbaijan – One worker was killed, 30 were missing and 33 were rescued Saturday after a fire swept through a Caspian Sea oil platform owned by Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, the company said.
The fire on the platform in the offshore Guneshli field broke out Friday evening when an underwater gas pipeline was damaged in a heavy storm. Strong winds and waves up to 33 feet high made rescue operations extremely difficult, the statement said.
The workers evacuated the platform, getting into two lifeboats. About 10:45 p.m. Friday, a hook holding one of the lifeboats popped open and the boat fell into the sea, the statement said, adding that a nearby ship was able to rescue three workers and retrieve the body of one who died. The workers in the other lifeboat were rescued Saturday.
At least 27 killed in triple bombing
DAKAR, Senegal – A triple suicide bombing at a market on an island in Lake Chad on Saturday killed at least 27 people and injured 90 others, said security officials.
The explosions on Koulfoua were carried out by females, said Chad police spokesman Paul Manga.
Nigeria’s Islamic extremist group Boko Haram is suspected, said Chad’s director general of the gendarmerie, Gen. Banyaman Cossingar.
The Lake Chad region, which straddles the borders of Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, has been regularly targeted by the extremists. Chad’s government in November imposed a state of emergency in the area.
Associated Press
