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Venezuelan gas rig sinks, workers safe-Chavez


    CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Aban Pearl natural gas exploration rig sank in the Caribbean sea in the early hours of Thursday morning, President Hugo Chavez said via a message on Twitter.

    Chavez said all 95 workers were evacuated safely from the platform and that two navy patrols were in the area.

    The Aban Pearl semisubmersible rig was drilling some of the 16 gas wells in the Mariscal Sucre offshore natural gas project. It was installed last year and visited by Chavez.

    The Mariscal Sucre project is being developed by state-run PDVSA without participation from the private sector.

    (Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel, Editing by W Simon )