Azeri workers rescued from oil platform fire in Caspian Sea

At least one worker was killed and 30 are missing following a fire Saturday on an oil platform in the Caspian Sea, according to the Associated Press.

Another 44 are still stranded near the platform waiting to be rescued, though they are now at a safe distance from the blaze that began Friday in a gas pipeline of the structure, located in the Guneshli oilfield.

The state oil company and the government declined to say how many workers were on the platform when the fire started or how many had been missing.

There were reports dozens of workers were still stranded on the platform. A search-and-rescue operation was underway, it added.

Later on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and expressed sympathy for families of the victims of the fire, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

It was unclear whether any of the missing workers would be found alive. The workers in the other lifeboat were rescued Saturday, it said.

Around 60 percent of SOCAR’s oil production passes via the platform where the fire broke out, meaning the company’s output will be temporarily hit. A criminal case was also opened to investigate the Azerbaijan oil rig fire. Most of Azerbaijan’s oil is produced elsewhere, including fields operated by BP, a British oil company.

In a separate incident, SOCAR said on Friday that three workers were missing from another of its offshore oil platforms in the Caspian after an accident during the storm.

The head of Azerbaijan’s Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Committee told Reuters news agency that 32 employees on the platform were killed.