The Tunisian community is rallying around the families of two workers, who died on the Bouri Offshore Field some 120 kilometers north of the Libyan coast, while a third worker is still under treatment at the hospital.
The Tunisian Embassy in Libya said in a statement that five workers affiliated with a Tunisian company carrying out maintenance work at the offshore field fell from a floating storage tank after one of the chains binding the platform broke.
Two workers were pronounced dead, but the statement confirmed that their bodies had not been recovered yet, while the third worker was rushed to a hospital by the ambulance service.
"The Tunisian diplomatic and consular missions extend their deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and also hope for a speedy recovery for the injured citizen," the embassy said.
It also confirmed that it would continue to follow up the search for the bodies of the missing citizens in coordination with the Libyan authorities, noting that the administrative, security, and legal procedures related to the repatriation of the dead bodies to the homeland are already underway.
Meanwhile, Mellitah Oil & Gas said that the tragic accident happened during the dismantling and hauling of the Sloug oil tank, which has been out of service since 2017.
The tank has been converted into scrap before being submitted for tender and awarded and delivered from a period of three months to the Rapid Support Company.
The company confirmed that investigations are underway in cooperation with the competent authorities and that the production operations are proceeding normally.
Sloug is considered one of the largest oil tankers in the world, with a storage load of more than 1.53 million barrels of crude oil.
The giant oil tanker roamed the oceans and seas to transport millions of tons of crude oil until it was transformed and rehabilitated in 1987/1988 to become a floating tank in the Bouri oil field through the Italian company Fincinter Palermo for the benefit of the National Oil Corporation and Ajib Nami Company.
