IN BRIEF : Valve Blamed in Oil Platform Blast
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LONDON — An explosion which wrecked the Piper Alpha oil platform in the British North Sea, killing 167 people, was caused by a gas leak from a faulty valve, the Department of Energy said today in a final report.
The report, which ruled out any other likely cause for the July disaster, confirmed the initial findings reported in September on Britain’s worst-ever offshore oil disaster.
Only 62 men survived when blasts and fires ripped through the platform, operated by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp.
A number of safety systems failed on the platform, said the report’s chronicle of events leading to the explosion. A full public inquiry is set to open in Aberdeen, Scotland, on Jan. 19.
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