Missing persons are being looked for near "Guneshli" oil platform

An empty boat, used to evacuate workers from the burning oil platform of the "Guneshli" oil field, was found in the open sea. Its passengers are considered missing so far.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 4 during a storm in the Caspian Sea, a fire broke out in the oil field "Guneshli". The State oil Company SOCAR announced that all the workers had been evacuated, but this fact was refuted: Mirvari Gakhramanly, the head of the Committee for Protection of Oilers' Rights, said that 32 people perished in the accident; but the authorities have officially confirmed the death of only one worker.

According to the Azerbaijani authorities, the empty boat – the first one of those, used to evacuate the workers from the oil platform, was found 50 km to the south of the platform. Joint forces of agencies and oil companies are searching for the missing workers.

According to investigators, the fire could be caused by a violation of fire safety rules. In this context, a criminal case was initiated, says the website of the Azerbaijani President.

According to SOCAR, 30 people are regarded as missing, the Haqqin.az reports. Officially, evacuation of 33 workers was confirmed, the APA reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.