Iran expresses condolences over Azerbaijan oil rig fire
Iran has extended its condolences to the government and nation of Azerbaijan over the deadly explosion and fire on an Azerbaijani oil platform in the Caspian Sea.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber-Ansari on Sunday expressed deep sorrow over the tragic event and offered Tehran’s sympathy to the families of the victims, saying Tehran is ready to provide assistance to Baku to bring the blaze under control.
A storm caused the platform in the Guneshli oil field to catch fire on Friday.
Rescue workers have saved 33 people out of the 62 employees working on the rig. So far, the body of one worker has been found.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev designated December 6 as a day of national mourning. Flags were ordered to fly at half mast and entertainment programs cancelled, the president’s office said.
The fire started after the storm damaged a natural gas pipeline, causing the explosion and the platform’s partial collapse. Oil production on 28 oil wells linked to the facility was suspended and all oil and gas pipelines that link the platform with land were blocked as a safety precaution, according to a joint statement by Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, the emergency ministry and the country's chief prosecutor.
The blaze was still burning on Sunday, but SOCAR said it would be extinguished by the evening.
Azerbaijani prosecutors on Saturday launched a probe into possible “breaches of fire safety regulations.”
About 60 percent of SOCAR’s oil production passes through the damaged platform.
In a separate incident, SOCAR said on Friday that three workers had gone missing at one of its other offshore oil platforms following the day's storm.
Last year, fourteen of SOCAR’s workers were killed in similar accidents.
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