La. Oil Rig Sinks; 11 Still Missing

The Coast Guard is saying that an oil platform that suffered a massive explosion two days ago has sunk in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers are still missing. A Coast Guard helicopter and rescue plane resumed the search earlier today as the rig, off the Louisiana coast, continued to burn. Supply vessels shot water into it to try to control the flames enough to keep it from sinking.

Rescue crews have covered the 1,940-square-mile search area by air 12 times and by boat five times, said a Coast Guard spokesman. Relatives waited anxiously for hourly updates. Family members of one missing worker, Shane Roshto of Amite, Miss., filed a lawsuit in New Orleans today accusing the rig's owner of negligence. The suit said he was thrown overboard by the explosion and is feared dead, though it did not indicate how family members knew what happened to him. (More oil rig stories.)