Missing Pinoy welder off Gulf of Mexico found dead

A Filipino welder who was reported missing following an accident in the Gulf of Mexico was confirmed dead on Wednesday, Manila time.

The Philippine embassy in Washington said the US Coast Guard recovered the remains of missing Filipino welder Peter Jorge Voces.

"Coast Guard divers recovered the body at accident site at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday (US time)," it said in posts on its Twitter account.

It said Voces had been missing since Sunday night US time, after he was knocked off an oil platform by an empty storage tank.

The tank had fallen with him into the waters, it said.

“It is with deep sadness that we learn about the loss of our kababayan.” said Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia Jr.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones in the Philippines,” he added.

The embassy added Voces was part of a crew sent to decommission an idle platform owned by Energy Resource Technology, a subsidiary of Houston-based Talos Energy.

Earlier, the embassy quoted Lt. Steve Arguelles of the US Coast Guard Sector New Orleans as saying Voces "accidentally fell into the Gulf of Mexico while working at the oil platform at around 7:30 p.m. (Sunday)"

Arguelles said the accident site is at Vermillion Block 200, some 55 miles south of Freshwater Bayou between Lake Charles and Baton Rouge and is 154 miles from last year’s accident site. — LBG, GMA News