WATCH: Flames Bubble Up In Gulf Of Mexico After Pipeline Ruptures
By Jason Hall
July 3, 2021
A rupture in an undersea gas pipeline caused flames to boil to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on Friday (July 3).
Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state-owned oil company, confirmed it sent out fire control boats to pump more water over the flames in response to the incident, ABC News reports.
Pemex, as the company is otherwise known, confirmed no one was injured during the offshore incident in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap field.
The leak occurred at around dawn about 150 yards (meters) from the site of a drilling platform. Pemex said the gas leak was controlled about five hours after the incident initially took place.
However, large roiling balls of flame boiled up from below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, which was shown in numerous videos that have since gone viral online.
The amount of environmental damage caused by the gas leak and ensuing oceanic fireball is unknown as of Saturday (July 3) morning.
Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director for the Center of Biological Diversity, referred to the footage as "frightening" and said it was "showing the world that offshore drilling is dirty and dangerous," ABC News reports.
“These horrific accidents will continue to harm the Gulf if we don’t end offshore drilling once and for all," Sakashita added.