Word: leake
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Wednesday evening, a piercing sound that one survivor described as "screaming like a banshee" -- presumed to be a pressurized natural-gas leak -- screeched through the 650-ft.-high structure, whose four massive metal feet were anchored in the sea bottom 475 ft. below the surface. Seconds later an explosion ripped the rig in two, enveloping it in a ball of flame and smoke. Miraculously, 63 crew members survived, some with severe burns, the majority with only minor injuries. But 166 died, including two rescuers. It was the worst disaster in the 25-year history of North Sea oil exploration...
...owners said the probable cause of the conflagration was a gas leak, which a survivor said was "screaming like a banshee" seconds before the blast Wednesday night...
Occidental Petroleum, owner of the Piper Alpha platform, said it believed a gas leak was to blame, but days or weeks would be needed to determine what caused and ignited it. Occidental said the three-quarters of the 649-foot-high rig was destroyed...
Andrew Sneddon, a university lecturer on offshore engineering in Aberdeen, said, "we can only assume there was a leak of some sort. Basically, you are sitting on top of two highly flammable products--oil and gas. A leak or a spill is a potential hazard. It is extremely difficult to say what could have...
...date approached, rumors of development problems began to leak out of NeXT's Palo Alto headquarters. Last week company sources confirmed what many already suspected: Jobs would miss yet another deadline, by several weeks at the very least. The setback did nothing to allay the intense speculation surrounding the machine, but it did raise troubling questions about the computer's ultimate chances for success and about the formidable reputation of its creator...