Oil rig fire breaks out in Texas; trapped workers rescued

SABINE PASS, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a fire aboard a decommissioned offshore oil rig platform briefly trapped nine shipyard workers until they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. A Coast Guard spokesman says the fire broke out shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday at a shipyard in Sabine Pass, where the Texas-Louisiana border meets the Gulf of Mexico. Video from KBMT-TV in nearby Beaumont showed the Coast Guard helicopter shuttling between the burning platform and another platform nearby, plucking the trapped workers from danger. Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Dickinson says no workers were injured. The cause of the fire was being investigated.