Gabon oil rig disaster: Three bodies found, two still missing

Three bodies have been found following the sinking of an oil rig off the coast of Gabon on Saturday, while the search continues for two people still missing, according to an updated toll released by Gabonese authorities overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.

The bodies were found on Wednesday inside the platform, which remains submerged, according to the Chief of Staff of the Gabonese Navy, Charles Hubert Bekale-Meyong.

In a statement broadcast overnight by Gabon’s public television channel Gabon24, the military official said the discovery was made using underwater robots. However, he added that the images obtained did not make it possible to identify the victims.

According to the authorities’ statement, rescue teams were preparing to recover the victims’ bodies so they could be identified.

A serious structural failure caused the Prospector 5 oil rig to sink on Saturday evening off Mayumba, in southern Gabon. There were 115 people on board at the time. The incident occurred “as part of preparations for a planned drilling campaign.”

A total of 110 people were found safe and well, while five remained missing following the disaster. On Tuesday, Gabonese authorities confirmed the death of one of the victims, an Indian national, although his body had not yet been recovered. Three Gabonese nationals and one Croatian national were also reported missing.

It is not known whether the Indian national, who had already been presumed dead, is among the bodies found in the wreckage of the platform.

Petroleum Minister Clotaire Kondja announced on Sunday that he had ordered “the opening of a technical investigation to establish the exact circumstances of the accident and determine responsibility.”