Gas leak causes “eye of fire” in Gulf of Mexico, investigation underway

CAMPECHE SOUND, Mexico (UPI) — Mexico’s Pemex is launching an investigation into a huge gas pipeline fire in the Gulf of Mexico that occurred Friday morning.

The blaze resembled a large “eye of fire” and was circulated on social media due to its unusual shape.

Pemex said in a statement published on Twitter that the fire was caused by an underwater gas leak at approximately 5:15 a.m. local time. It was close to an oil platform and put out by 10:45 a.m. the same day.

No injuries or evacuations were reported.

The leak happened in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap’s Ku-C satellite platform in the Campeche Sound. It’s one of Pemex’s most productive clusters of oil fields, accounting for 40% of the company’s total output.

Reporting by Zarrin Ahmed

United Press International

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United Press International is an international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the 20th century.

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