Crew Filming Fishing TV Show Captures Massive Oil Rig Explosion in the Gulf Philip Caulfield - New York Daily News
go to original November 20, 2012

A crew filming a show on a boat off the coast of Louisiana on Friday happened to capture the Black Elk Energy rig going up in flames.

Video shot by a camera crew filming a show for a fishing network captured the deadly oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday.

The platform, owned by Houston-based Black Elk Energy, erupted off the coast of Louisiana on Friday morning while workers were using a torch to cut an oil line, killing one worker.

The worker’s body was recovered on Saturday. Dive teams were still searching for the body of another worker, while four others were being treated for severe burns at Baton Rouge Medical Center.

In the video, an unidentified fisherman standing aboard a boat points to a massive ball of fire in the distance.

“Holy s---! Something just blew up!” he says, as a giant plume of smoke begins pouring into the sky.

"Yea it did!" a man off camera responds.

One worker was killed in the blast, and another was still missing on Monday. Four others were being treated for severe burns at a Baton Rouge hospital.

The crew was filming an episode for the show Sport Fishing Television,

Black Elk said that dive boats, search-and-rescue teams and deputies from the Plaquemines Parish would continue to search the waters and surrounding beaches for the missing the worker.

The rig was set up about 20 miles off the coast of Grand Isle, La.

“We remain focused on the victims and their families, including those injured," the company said in a statement.

Of the four hospitalized, one man was reported in fair condition. Two others were in serious condition and one was in critical condition, according to The Associated Press.

The main in fair condition, Wilberto Ilagan, 50, released a statement from the hospital’s burn unit Sunday saying he was grateful to be alive.

"To my relatives, to my family, and to my country, I am alive and in good health," said Ilagan, who is from the Philippines.

"I am burned, but my heart and lungs are healthy."

According to the Philippine Embassy in Washington, all the workers are from the Philippines.

With News Wire Services

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