UPDATED 18:09 PM EST, November 16, 2012
David Smith, a spokesman for the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said the team was dispatched from a Gulf Coast base by helicopter soon after the U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the emergency. Smith said the team would scan for any evidence of oil spilling and investigate the cause of the explosion.
Coast Guard officials say two people are missing and four others were taken to hospitals after the explosion at a platform 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La. The platform is owned by Black Elk Energy.
