New Delhi, 28 July 05 (WAM)--At least 12 people have died in yesterday's devastating fire at the Mumbai High North (MHN) platform belonging to the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), of India, official sources said.

In a statement in the country's Parliament today, the Indian Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, said that the platform was totally detroyed in the fire and it would be at least a few weeks before production could be resumed.

"The accident took place when ONGC's multi-purpose support vessel (MSV)'Samudra Suraksha', under the operation of the Shipping Corporation ofIndia, was engaged in a medical evacuation operation. According toavailable information, the MSV lost control, drifted, and collided with theplatform causing a major fire, which also engulfed the MSV," he said.

He said that the due to the intensity of the fire and consequent damage,the platform was abandoned according to a well-rehearsed abandonment drillused in offshore operations. Similarly, personnel from the MSV wereevacuated, except for six divers who are at present undergoing decompressionand are expected to survive.

Personnel on board the chartered drilling rig NC Yester deployed in the area were also evacuated. The MHN platform was totally lost in less than two hours along with a helicopter, belonging to the state-owned Pawan Hans, positioned on it.

ONGC support and supply vessels and three chartered helicopters were quickly mobilized for search and rescue operations. Indian Navy and Coast guards had provided prompt assistance by deploying ships and air craft, the minister said.

"A total of 384 personnel had to abandon the affected platform and thetwo vessels. Of them, 351 have been rescued in addition to the 6 divers whoare undergoing decompression. The injured persons were provided first aid bydoctors and paramedics immediately on rescue," Aiyer said.

About 130 of those rescued reached Mumbai Docks today in the morning. The remaining rescued personnel are expected to reach Mumbai by late evening.

The search for missing persons is continuing, the minister added.

"On behalf of the nation, I extend my deepest sympathies to the bereaved families.

Their rehabilitation will be our duty," the minister said.

"In spite of the severe destruction caused by floods and rains in Mumbai,all possible resources for rescue and relief were mobilized immediately.

This was in spite of the fact that the control center at Bandra (East) wasnon-functional as a result of power outage, all communications links weredestroyed, and the fleet of 12 chartered helicopters at Juhu helibase wascompletely grounded because of the flood situation. An emergency controlcenter was set up immediately to manage the response effectively," he added.

Later today, Aiyer and Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, conductedan aerial survey of the site of the accident.

ONGC Chairman and Managing Director, Subir Raha, and other officers of ONGC are also in Mumbai to supervise the rescue opertions.

"Though the loss of the platform would immediately impact 110,000 barrelsper day of crude production, it is expected that 70% of this productionwould be restored over the next 4 weeks. The platform was insured for US$195 million and the MSV for US$ 60 million under ONGC?s offshore packageinsurance policy," the minister added.

He thanked the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard for theirremarkably rapid and successful search and rescue operations. He alsothanked Cairn Energy and British Gas who had offered their helicopters forrescue operations.

"When the first information came early evening yesterday about themagnitude of the accident, we were simply awe-struck. And since theentire Mumbai went totally out of gear because of incessant rain, atone point of time we felt helpless," a senior ONGC official said.

"We have got information that the naval boats have spottedtwo people waving their hands. The boats have immediately rushed tothe spot," he said.