BP Oil Spill Gulf of Mexico

T
hree dozen workers aboard a supply vessel in the Gulf of Mexico have been hospitalised following exposure to leaking toxic fumes at a natural gas platform, US officials said.

Of the 36 people - out of 41 people on board - who were transported to hospital, two workers complained of more serious symptoms including shortness of breath, disorientation and chest pains, after their vessel broke open a gas line while mooring at the platform in Cocodrie, southwest Louisiana.

A small amount of natural gas escaped from the leak before it was promptly shut off, officials said.