Oil Rig Explosion Visible From Space: Big Pics
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April 26, 2010 -- After last week's explosion and sinking of the Deep Horizon oil rig cost 11 workers their lives and briefly caused a fire visible from space that resembled a man-made volcano, it's hard to imagine the tragedy could get any worse.
On Saturday, it did. Thousands of gallons of oil were found leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. As oil giant BP scrambled to get cleanup crews to the scene, an estimated 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) of oil were spewing out of a broken drill pipe daily, causing an oil slick that now covers 400 square miles of seascape.
Forecasts called for the slick to steer clear of the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts for the time being, but officials are already making preparations to ward off a tide of black sludge that could threaten delicate wetlands habitat.
by Michael Reilly
Images: NOAA, AP Photos/Gerald Herbert
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