The bodies of two Indians and a Bangladeshi,reported missing when an offshore oil rig of Saudi Arabias state-run petroleum giant Aramco sank in the Persian Gulf,have been found,officials said Saturday. Aramco had earlier said the three Asian workers were missing following Fridays accident in the waters off the coast of al-Safaniya region,the site of the worlds largest offshore oil field. The remaining 24 crew suffered limited injuries but were rescued,Aramco said. They (bodies) were all found. We found two of them late Friday and another one Saturday morning, Eastern Province Coastguard spokesman Col Khaled al-Arqubi was quoted as saying. The platform was carrying out maintenance work at an oil well in al-Safaniya in Eastern Province,265 km north of the city of Dhahran,when the accident took place. Aramco said a thorough investigation had been launched into the accident,which had not affected its operations. Saudi Arabia is the worlds top oil producer. Discovered in 1951,al-Safaniya oil field has a capacity of more than 1.2 million barrels per day. Meanwhile,India Saturday deployed staff from its mission in Saudi Arabia to assess the situation after the oil rig sank in the Persian Gulf. Staff is being deployed by the Embassy to visit the place and meet the officials and offer all assistance, official sources said here.
