Azerbaijan mourns �many deaths� after oil rig fire

AFP, BAKU: Azerbaijan was on Sunday searching for 29 missing oil workers after a storm caused their offshore oil rig to catch fire, as the president ordered a day of mourning. A fire broke out on the rig in the Caspian following a storm on Friday “leading to many deaths,” said a statement on the official website of President Ilham Aliyev. “I join the relatives in their grief and designate December 6 as a day of mourning in Azerbaijan,” it quoted him as saying. Flags were ordered to fly at half mast and entertainment programs cancelled, his office said. Aliyev’s statement was the closest to an official confirmation that 30 workers have likely perished at sea when one lifeboat where the crew was taking refuge fell into the water. Rescue workers had lifted a total of 33 people from the rig, the open water, and from a lifeboat that was suspended 10 metres (35 feet) above the stormy waters.

Azerbaijan mourns �many deaths� after oil rig fire

AFP, BAKU: Azerbaijan was on Sunday searching for 29 missing oil workers after a storm caused their offshore oil rig to catch fire, as the president ordered a day of mourning. A fire broke out on the rig in the Caspian following a storm on Friday leading to many deaths, said a statement on the official website of President Ilham Aliyev. I join the relatives in their grief and designate December 6 as a day of mourning in Azerbaijan, it quoted him as saying. Flags were ordered to fly at half mast and entertainment programs cancelled, his office said. Aliyevs statement was the closest to an official confirmation that 30 workers have likely perished at sea when one lifeboat where the crew was taking refuge fell into the water. Rescue workers had lifted a total of 33 people from the rig, the open water, and from a lifeboat that was suspended 10 metres (35 feet) above the stormy waters.