Pemex said on Twitter that the fire on the Abkatun Permanente platform in the oil-rich Campeche Bay broke out overnight and eight firefighting boats were tackling the blaze.
¡Impresionante! #Video del incendio de la plataforma Abkatun Alfa en la Sonda de #Campeche #PEMEX @OlmecaDiario pic.twitter.com/E7RxBzdQzRThe oil giant said in a statement that at least one person, a contractor, has been killed and 16 have been injured in the blaze. Two of them are in a serious condition.
— Sistema Informativo (@SistemaInfoVEOO) April 1, 2015
However earlier, a spokesman for emergency services in Ciudad del Carmen said thatat least 45 people were injured.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
The Abkatun Permanenteplatform forms part of the Abkatun-Pol-Chuc offshore complex. Production at the complex has fallen steadily since the 1990s to below 300,000 barrels per day in 2013, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
Imagen de la plataforma Abkatun Alfa de Campeche, incendiándose en estos momentos. @AristeguiOnline@SinEmbargoMX pic.twitter.com/rtopZ4lEf3In recent years Pemex - Latin America's second largest company - has suffered a number of accidents. At least 37 people were killed by a blast at the company's Mexico City headquarters in 2013.
— Visit Riviera Maya (@TurismoRiviera) April 1, 2015
Another fire in a Pemex natural gas facility in September 2012 claimed 26 lives.
The incident comes nearly five years after the devastating 2010 BP incident in the Gulf of Mexico - the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.
Comment: Is this another example of the Earth "opening up"? Or possibly a short circuit caused by an EMP blast from a fireball entering the atmosphere? Could this be related to the recent power outages in Turkey and Amsterdam and the "accidental" airing of the Emergency Alert System in the U.S.? Taking all these incidents into account, it sure is looking like the universe is trying to send us a message.