(AP / 26-04-10) The risk of an environmental disaster has increased after the explosion, last week, of a rig of the British company BP in an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, which caused 11 deaths.

“They extract about 1,000 oil barrels every day from 1,500 meters deep under the surface” the Coast Guard has said, who supervises the work of rescue and cleanup.

Since last Saturday, the leak covered about 1,000 km of the waters in the Gulf, 65 km far from the Louisiana Coast. Oil flows from two points in the place of the accident.

An underwater robot will attempt to stop the loss of oil on Monday. The company Transocean, tenant of the well, has send two rigs that will be used to drill a relief well, which would intercept the oil and inject a heavy fluid that prevents the leak, after which they could seal the well permanently.

Storms, rains and the strong swell have made cleaning the leak difficult. The fire on the platform began on April 20 after an explosion that could have been caused by blasting, an unexpected increase in pressure that ejected oil in the well. The rig sunk two days later.