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1988: Piper Alpha oil rig disaster

A fire on a North Sea oil rig kills 167 people on 6 July 1988.

A series of explosions rip through the Piper Alpha drilling platform, 120 miles (193km) off the north-east coast of Scotland.

Sixty one people survive, some by jumping 175ft (53m) from the rig's helicopter deck into the sea.

BBC Archive: This BBC News report was originally broadcast on 7 July 1988.