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MSNBC reported this hour that two workers involved in the recovery effort of the BP oil disaster have died. Details are sketchy at this time; the network said that two were dead; one was a cleanup worker, one was a ship captain.
A report on MSNBC’s website gives more detail, including the possibility that the ship captain died of a gunshot wound:
Oil was again gushing uncontrollably from the BP spill site on Wednesday after the company was forced to remove the containment cap when a robotic submarine hit a vent. The news came as officials also reported two deaths of people who had been hired for the response effort.[...]
The deaths reported Wednesday were not tied to the containment operation. The Coast Guard said the workers had been involved in cleanup operations did [sic] that their deaths did not appear to be work related.
One death was a boat captain who died of a gunshot wound, a Coast Guard spokesman said. Further details were not immediately available.
More information as it becomes available.
UPDATE: From the Alabama Press Register, more information on the captain dead of a gunshot wound in Fort Morgan, AL:
William Allen Kruse, born 1955, was the captain of The Rookie, a charter fishing boat normally based in Orange Beach, said Deputy Baldwin County Coroner Rod Steade .
Steade said the deckhands were on the docks and heard a gunshot and went back on and found him dead on the “flying bridge.”
“I’m very sorry to announce the death this morning of a captain in the vessel of opportunity program at Fort Morgan, Alabama,” said U.S. Coast Guard Commander Chuck Diorio, a spokesman for the joint information center at the Mobile command post. “Our hearts go out to his family and the Gulf Coast community. There are many facts that need to be determined surrounding this.”
This certainly sounds like a suicide. William Allen Kruse is the 12th person to die from BP’s oil disaster, while we wait to hear details on the 13th later today.
UPDATE 2: Here’s video of National Incident Commander Thad Allen announcing the deaths; in this video, Allen explains that the captain of a “vessel of opportunity” died, and the other worker died in a “swimming” incident.
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Oh, dear. The gunshot wound sounds l Ike it could be a suicide. My heart goes out to anyone involved in this sad sad affair.
And the tragedy goes on and on. Sad for the families.
my ears pricked up when I heard MSNBC say “criminal investigation”
OT- MSNBC site saying McCrystal has been relieved of command.
also reporting POTUS has hanged Af/Pak albatross around Petraeus’s oh so deserving neck
Yep, it had looked that way when it was reported he left before the strategy session. Petraeus reportedly to assume charge of Afghan operation.
Different guy, same ol’ shit.
CNN reporting McC relieved of command.
It’s karma.
Really the only person he could hang it on without Republicans saying O let his ego compromise the mission.
Which is bullshit of course, since the mission has never had any chance of success.
Worse.
Time to announce we’ve achieved our objective of creating a narco state and bring ‘em home.
concur wholeheartedly.
Petraeus has escaped accountability (well, Village accountability) and I give WH credit for using him as a human shield and as stated above, make him the poster boy for his glorious COIN campaign.
You’re probably right, Mommybrain. This looks like a suicide per the update I just posted.
Obama keeps recycling generals and nothing works. Isn’t there someone, perhaps younger, who could at least serve as a “let’s get the hell out of here” backstop?
Well, I was wrong on this one. Now we get 1 more COIN believer bustin’ his ass tryin’ to make history. I don’t think Petraeus’ plans are much different from McChrystal’s.
It probably won’t be the last considering the lack of hope in their future.
Gregg Levine has a new post up: McChrystal Relieved of Command; Obama Names Petraeus as Replacement in Afghanistan
Might be unrelated to the larger picture although an individual leaning toward suicide probably wouldn’t find much cause for hope amid that mess.
Best wishes to their families.
Guy’s kids prolly worked the boat with him, as he did with his dad, back for generations. Not much of a future for them.
And while he was at it, could he have removed one of the most viable possible candidates for O’s job come 2012, Petraeus?
{ sigh } My condolences to these individuals, their family, friends and those near and dear to them. This disaster–this massive suffering– was all preventable.
The Register article sort of makes it sound like suicide, but the actual details leave open all possibilities. Look at what is actually said vs. what is not said.
The article simply states that the crew heard a gunshot and found him dead. No mention of a weapon nearby or a description of the wounds, just that there are many facts that need to be determined. But we all know that suicide would never be used as a cover for shady events. Just ask Bruce Ivins. I am not saying this is the case, but we should remain critical of any information coming out of the Gulf, especially considering the reports of BP/Coast Guard intimidation against workers, media, etc.
I agree with your take. Let’s wait and see. Might be suicide and then again, maybe not.
In the meantime, very sorry to hear this news, and my condolences to the person’s family and friends. Sigh. Too sad.
hey Newt order your new special BP DART BOARD now and save 25%. CEO Uncle Tony Hayward scores a bullseye if you smack him with a dart and Chairman Grandpa Carl-Henric is worth 25 bonus points if you smack him with a dart and Communist Joe Barton is worth 25 bonus points if you smack him with a dart. email FTAA_Museum_Of_Horrors@isp.com to order your BP Dart Board now 25% off if you mention UCCNews sent you.
Send Newt and the Queen to New Orleans, Louisana for a 6 month vacation. They can dine on oil and shrimp and swim in the oil canal. Hope the mwthane tsunami gets Newt and the Queen while they are dining on lobster.
hey Newt did you shoot that guy because he called you sick republican. You carry in Louisana right?