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Workers killed at Mexican oil platform

Crane fell more than 100 feet in offshore incident.

By Daniel J. Graeber

MEXICO CITY, June 13 (UPI) -- Seven workers are confirmed dead and one is injured in an accident at a drilling platform off the Mexican coast, construction company Empresas ICA said.

Mexican oil services company Empresas said a crane holding the workers fell from a height of 130 feet. The accident left seven workers dead and one injured.

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"We will allocate the necessary resources to determine as soon as possible the cause of the accident and implement any necessary preventive measures in the future," the company said in a statement Thursday.

The accident occurred Wednesday. The company said government authorities were at the site investigating the incident.

The company is a joint venture between Mexican company ICA and U.S. engineering company Fluor Corp. There was no public statement issued by the U.S. company.

Mexico is one of the top 10 oil-producing countries in the world, with an estimated 10 billion barrels of proven reserves as of 2013.

A country profile from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Mexico produced an average 2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, more than 20 percent less than its peak from 2004-09.

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The oil sector accounted for 13 percent of the country's export earnings last year.

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