Searchers in the Gulf of Mexico say they've found the body of one of the two people who went missing after an oil platform explosion on Friday. NBC's Lester Holt reports. By The Associated Press The owner of an oil platform that caught fire after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last week said Sunday that it has expanded its search for a missing worker, and doctors said one of four men burned in the blaze is improving and is now in fair condition. Two remained in critical condition and one in serious condition, doctors said. Three dive boats are now working around the burned platform and Plaquemines Parish sheriff's deputies are checking beaches, Black Elk Energy of Houston said in a statement emailed Sunday evening. It said all helicopter companies flying in the area have been asked to keep an eye out, and a search-and-rescue dog will be brought to the platform Monday. The body of a second missing worker was found Saturday and turned over to the Jefferson Parish coroner, added the company, which said it is cooperating with investigators. "We remain focused on the victims and their families, including those injured," the statement said. 'I am alive' "To my relatives, to my family, and to my country, I am alive and in good health," Ilagan said. "I am burned, but my heart and lungs are healthy." According to The Advocate, Littleton said Sunday that the other men's names are being withheld because they have not given their consent to release them. The Philippine Embassy in Washington has said all the workers are from the Philippines. Body found at scene of oil platform explosion in Gulf of Mexico, Coast Guard says The Coast Guard has suspended its own search after checking 1,400 square miles near the oil platform, located about 20 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La. John Hoffman, the president and CEO of Black Elk Energy, said in an earlier statement that the body was found near where the explosion occurred. The dead, missing and wounded workers were employees of oilfield contractor Grand Isle Shipyard, he said. Gerald Herbert / AP An explosion and fire on Friday severely damaged an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La. Cause of fire unknown Authorities have said the blaze erupted Friday morning while workers were using a torch to cut an oil line on the platform. Pregeant's statement, however, said the cause of the fire and explosion is unknown and that "initial reports that a welding torch was being used at the time of the incident or that an incorrect line was cut are completely inaccurate." Eleven people were injured in the production platform blast and oil spillage was minimal, according to the Coast Guard. NBC's Brian Williams reports. A man who answered the phone at the company's Galliano, La., office on Sunday said the company had no comment. Coast Guard searches for 2 missing after Gulf oil rig blast Lawsuit The workers recently obtained conditional class certification for allegations that Grand Isle Shipyard didn't pay them properly for overtime and may have violated other fair-labor standards, said attorney Joseph C. Peiffer. He said a notice will go out soon to let other workers know they might be able to join the lawsuit. He said he was not representing the injured workers, but didn't rule out the possibility that he might do so. Meanwhile, Black Elk said no oil was leaking from the charred platform, which hadn't been operating since August. More content from NBCNews.com:
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11/19/2012
Search widens for oil platform worker after blast
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