Photo: Xinhua/Diario Presente

By KELIN DILLON

After an explosion occurred on the E-Ku-A2 platform of Mexico’s state-owned oil company’s Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) on Sunday, Aug. 22, five workers have been declared dead, six injured and two more remain missing.

Located in the Campeche Sound and valued as one of Pemex’s most important production assets, Ku-Alfa is the company’s second platform to experience a major incident in the last two months.

“A dependent worker has lost his life and there are some injured and missing,” said Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) the following morning. “We wholeheartedly hope that the injured recover and that those who are reported as missing appear.”

Critics have pointed out that Pemex’s massive 50 billion-peso debt has resulted in less maintenance for its platforms and infrastructure, potentially contributing to the deadly event.