Three bodies found in oil rig wreckage off Gabon
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
Rescuers have found three bodies in the submerged wreckage of the Prospector 5 oil platform, which sank off Gabon. One person remains missing after the accident, which left five people missing among the 115 occupants, according to Gabonese authorities cited by IOL.
Three bodies were found on Wednesday 28 October in the submerged wreckage of the Prospector 5 oil platform, which sank off Gabon with 115 people on board. At least one other person remains missing, according to Charles Hubert Bekale-Meyong, a Gabonese naval officer in charge of search and rescue operations, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
The bodies were spotted by underwater robots, but the images do not yet allow them to be identified. Teams were preparing to bring them to the surface to determine their identities. An Indian national had already been declared dead on Tuesday, based on survivors’ accounts, while three Gabonese nationals and one Croatian remained among the missing, according to the Gabonese authorities.
The Prospector 5 was operated by Borr Drilling, a Bermuda-based contractor, for drilling work carried out on behalf of BW Energy, a Norwegian company active in Gabon, Brazil and Namibia. Gabon’s Ministry of Petroleum and Gas has opened an investigation into the causes of the accident and promised to make its findings public. The sinking came after the oil platform went missing on 25 October, followed by the opening of an investigation into the suspected collapse of the seabed, announced on 26 October.
