The rig, which was floated next to the drilling location, could accommodate up to 130 crew members. The rig was in the Gulf of Mexico in the final phases of drilling a well on April 20 2010, when an explosion occurred on the rig and it caught fire.
Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22, 2010 as a result of the explosion.
Seven workers were airlifted and were then taken to hospital. Support ships sprayed the rig with water in an unsuccessful attempt to put out the flames. Deepwater Horizon sank in water approximately 1500 m deep.
And now crude oil is spewing from the site, which is said to be leaving a "rainbow sheen" of pollution covering a 1 000 square-kilometer area. It is estimated that the rate of oil leaking is approximately 1 000 barrels a day!
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