Elgin North Sea Platform evacuation
Mystery gas leak forces hundreds of oil workers to be evacuated from North Sea platform amid fears of explosion
- A four mile exclusion zone has been set up around the Elgin Total platform
- Texan 'Hellfighters' who tackled the Deepwater Horizon disaster have reportedly been called in
- Shell has also pulled out workers from nearby rigs
Danger: A leak from the Elgin rig (pictured) has led to more than 300 workers being evacuated from that and surrounding oil and gas platforms
An exclusion zone stretching up to four miles has been set up around a North Sea oil platform because it is leaking gas and could explode.In the last two days hundreds of workers have also been evacuated off or away from the Elgin Total platform, which stands 150 miles from the Aberdeen coast.Coastguards have today demanded shipping stays at least two miles away, planes must keep a distance of three miles, while rigs up to four miles away are being emptied in case they get caught up in any explosion.It is also being reported the team of Texan 'Hellfighters' who battled the Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010, which killed 11 and injured 16, is being brought to Scotland by Total to prevent or tackle a blast.The incident in the Gulf of Mexico shocked the world and cost oil giant BP almost £5 billion in reparations, and anything on that scale would be unprecedented in Britain.
Fears have risen because the Total rig is now surrounded by a giant gas cloud, with a sheen of liquid gas on the water - a tell-tale sign there is a large leak. David Hainsworth, health, safety and environment manager for Total, told the Good Morning Scotland programme that there are risks around the situation.
He said: 'The gas is flammable but the platform power was turned off to minimise risk of ignition, but clearly there is a risk.'We have taken away a series of risks but there is always a possibility, it's low but you never say never.
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