Today, Azerbaijan announced a one-day mourning period for those who died in a fire at an offshore platform at the 'Guneshli' field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The corresponding decree was signed by President Ilham Aliyev, TASS reports, citing television channel AzTV.
On Friday, December 4th, a fire broke out on one of the oil platforms operating at the offshore field 'Guneshli'. According to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, at about 16:40 a support tube on the platform was torn due to a heavy storm, which resulted in damage to a gas pipeline running under a pressure of 110 atmospheres, which in turn caused a major fire.
2 people died as a result of the accident, 29 are reported missing. The search for the missing oil workers was resumed this morning. Helicopters are involved in the search and rescue operation, it is expected that divers will also be involved. 32 of the 63 people who were on the platform when the fire started were saved. Some of them are hospitalized, their lives are not in danger.
Currently the fire has still not been extinguished. The fire itself is still continuing because of the residue of gas in the pipeline and technological systems. The fire is thought to have spread to the oil and gas wells. A criminal case under Article 225.2 (violation of fire safety rules leading to grave consequences) has been initiated, an investigation group from the staff of the Prosecutor General and the Ministry of Emergency Situations has been created. Corresponding analyses were scheduled to determine the causes of the accident and the necessary procedural steps are being carried out to assess the amount of damage.
In connection with this accident, President Ilham Aliyev ordered the creation of a state commission, headed by Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, which is entrusted with investigation of the causes and circumstances of the incident.
