Eight still missing as divers probe rig wreckage

Press, 14 May 1979, Page 8

Eight still missing as divers probe rig wreckage

International

NZPA-Reuter Galveston Diving teams have reached the wreckage of a sunken drilling rig, but found no sign of eight men missing and feared trapped when the 13-tonne platform collapsed with 34 workers aboard. The divers — working with limited visibility and hampered by debris that snagged their air hoses — entered the wreckage late on Saturday, and continued their efforts. “We’re going to work around the clock until we exhaust all evidence that someone might or might not be alive,” a spokesman said. The rescue effort was on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, 1704 metres below the surface, 19km south of Galveston, Texas. The divers were expected soon to get into the various airtight compartments on the platform. It was in some of the compartments that officials feared bodies would be discovered. The Ranger I rig collapsed on Thursday night and was partially submerged until Friday night, when a storm caused the platform to sink. “It’s looking pretty grim,” Coast Guard Lieutenant Gabe Kinney said of fading hopes to find survivors. Coast Guard officials said the top of the rig was 808 m below the surface, and it was possible that the lower end rested on the gulf’s bottom. Thirty-four men were on board the rig when it collapsed. Private boats and coast guard ships and helicopters pulled 26 to safety, and only four of those were seriously hurt. One of the four lost his arm.