Fumes Kill 3 on Texas Oil Rig

SABINE PASS, Tex. — Three workers apparently overcome by fumes died today inside a ballast tank aboard an inactive offshore oil rig, Coast Guard officials said.

The three died after they went into a saltwater ballast tank, and their bodies were discovered by two other workers who apparently were not injured, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Robert Diaz said in Port Arthur. “They were cleaning a tank when they got overcome by some type of fumes,” said Don Merwin, Coast Guard duty officer in Galveston. The rig is owned by Marine Drilling Co. of Corpus Christi.