Page 3 - Rig Explosion News Today

In the new orleans area, correct? >> yes, thats right. >> breaking news just into cnn of a rig explosion that took place 80 miles south of vermilion bay. the rig in question is the vermilion oil rig owned by mariner energy. 13 people onboard. 12 are in the water right now. i dont know how quickly you can pull up something -- there you go. theres vermilion bay. >> not far at all from marsh island. the area of concern would be right here. a little target on there for you. yeah, this is an area whe...

>> of course. jenna: we do have breaking news for you here. we have reports of a rig explosion in louisiana. apparently, the coast guard is responding to this oil rig explosion, or the reports of this oil rig explosion. its south of grand isle, louisiana. apparently, coast guard rescue chopper, helicopters are responding, and we know according to one local report from wzue that there were 13 people on board this rig, theyre reporting 12 are accounted for, and seven helicopters are in the sky fro...

♪ this is ground control to major tong you really made the grade ♪ ♪ >> welcome back to "morning joe." look at the space walk. they are repairing the cooling system. this is the international space station, pete. can i see the control room, please? can i please have a shot of new york for a second? i need to see pete breen. i missed you guys! t.j., you guys are cute. you still look exhausted and drunk. thats nice. hi to you, chris, too. shrimp season kicks off today amid a massive recove...

Even as bp moves closer to finally sealing off the broken well in the gulf, relatives of the men who died in the rig explosion are still dealing with their own grief. they have watched the progress in the gulf knowing that even when all the oil is cleared away, their lives will never be the same. they are sharing their stories with cnn. >> we have two daughters. it was his choice to go the drilling route. we all stood by him. he was definitely my life. everything revolved around him and the girl...

Something you dont ever expect to see. >> reporter: rescue swimmer kirk peterson was aboard the first coast guard helicopter sent to the scene. and on the way, reports grew more dire by the minute. >> started progressing to a rig explosion, a rig on fire. 160 people in the water with injuries and it kept growing and growing and growing. >> reporter: as they circled the blazing deepwater horizon, it was immediately apparent, peterson says, they were flying into a full-blown catastrophe. with the ...

Peterson was aboard the first coast guard helicopter sent to the scene. and on the way, reports grew more dire by the minute. >> started progressing to a rig explosion, a rig on fire. 160 people in the water with injuries and it kept growing and growing and growing. >> reporter: as they circled the blazing deepwater horizon, it was immediately apparent, peterson says, they were flying into a full-blown catastrophe. with the chopper running low on fuel, the 39-year-old father of two was hoisted d...

And on the way, reports grew more dire by the minute. >> started progressing to a rig explosion, a rig on fire. 160 people in the water with injuries and it kept growing and growing and growing. >> reporter: as they circled the blazing deepwater horizon, it was immediately apparent, peterson says, they were flying into a full-blown catastrophe. with the chopper running low on fuel, the 39-year-old father of two was hoisted down on to the nearby supply ship that had now become, by necessity, a ho...

Fire, because they had been disabled. >> i discovered it was inhibited about a year ago. i inquired as to why it was inhibited. the explanation i got was that from the lim down, they did not want people to wake up at 3:00 in the morning due to false alarms. later today, you will hear from the father of one of the 11 workers killed in the rig explosion. keith jones talks about cnns fredricka whitfield at 3:00 eastern. right now, cleanup efforts are at a standstill in the gulf. the coast guard...

Political plant but did a new campaign speech help democrat alvin greene gain new supporters in his bid to become south carolinas next u.s. senator? im wolf blitzer. youre in "the situation room." lets get back to our top story this hour. another 24 hours of testing now under way on the new well cap in the gulf of mexico. officials are keeping close watch on pressure readings and possible leaks but so far the incident commander thad allen says no significant problems have been detected. its been...

They estimate up to 171 million gallons of crude have spilled into the ocean since the rig explosion. jonathan, how is the new cap going to work? >> reporter: the idea it provides a tighter fit. the problem is the current pipe going out of the well when they cut it, it wasnt a regular cut. it was a jagged cut. captain they had until today didnt felt it perfectly. on best, it was capturing half of the oil that was spilling out but the rest going out into the surrounding gulf. in theory, if this w...