Three bodies recovered in Gabon following sinking of Borr Drilling rig

LIBREVILLE, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Three bodies were recovered in Gabon on Wednesday following the sinking at the weekend of Borr Drilling’s Prospector 5 rig off the coast of the southern town of Mayumba, the Central African country’s navy said.

The accident occurred on Saturday at the Prospector 5 oil and gas rig, owned and operated by Borr. The rig is contracted to support BW Energy’s drilling operations off Gabon and it had not yet begun drilling.

Borr said on Monday that 110 of 115 people aboard were safe and five remained unaccounted for.

Chief of Staff of the Gabonese Navy, Charles Hubert Bekale-Meyong, said three bodies were found on Wednesday and two people were still missing.

“This discovery was made possible thanks to underwater inspections conducted using remotely operated robots. However, the images collected do not allow for the identification of the bodies in question,” Bekale-Meyong said on national television.

Sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday that an Indian national, one of the five initially unaccounted for, was found dead. The remaining four missing include three Gabonese nationals and one other expatriate, they added.

“The teams remain fully committed to continuing their search for the two other people who are missing,” Bekale-Meyong said.

(Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Ros Russell)

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