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Azerbaijan: Search for missing oilman yielding no results

16 December 2016 07:23 (UTC +04:00)

As of 9:00 a.m., the search continues. The search did not yield results. Only Gafarov Ilham’s body was found and handed over. The searches are underway with both helicopters and vessels.

Earlier, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR said in a statement that an accident took place at about 05:00 a.m., on Dec. 15, due to strong wind, which blew away a part of a flyover of the 150-meter long oil-gathering station. Meanwhile, the board attached to the flyover and a booth on it were also blown away.

According to the preliminary data, five people, who were on duty at the gathering station, and five people, who were in the booth, are missing.

The list of missing people:

1. Guloglan Zulfugarov – engineer

2. Azay Zulfugarov – operator

3. Vidadi Gurbanov – operator

4. Elchin Hasanov - mechanical engineer

5. Hasanagha Hajialiyev – operator

6. Ilham Gafarov – operator

7. Samir Asadov – operator

8. Javid Bahramov – operator

9. Ramiz Abbasov – engineer

10. Gorkhmaz Rustamov – operator

Vessels of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC are at the site; search and rescue work continues. A special group has been created to investigate the accident.

Tural Museyibov, spokesman for the State Maritime Administration, told APA: “After a careful consideration of the accident, the State Maritime Administration’s Long Range Identification and Tracing National Center informed all the concerned bodies. In consideration of possible search and rescue operations, vessels nearby—“Gultakin Asgarova”, “Vadim Seyidov”, and “Vikhr-5”—were sent to the site of accident,” said Museyibov.

In the second stage, the “Caspian Provider”, “Caspian Pride”, and “LankÉ™ran” ships were deployed to the site to eliminate the consequences of the accident, he added.

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC took immediate actions right after receiving information about the accident in the Caspian Sea, said the statement.

According to the statement, the required vessels were sent to the accident site in cooperation with SOCAR and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Thirteen vessels of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC were immediately sent to the site to search for the missing.

In constant coordination with SOCAR and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Crisis Group of CJSC is coordinating the operation of the vessels.