On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the oil platform Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. There were 11 fatalities. During firefighting attempts, the platform sank, breaking the drill pipe. For nearly 3 months, 800 million liters of oil flowed into the sea through a non-functioning blowout preventer. After many futile attempts, BP finally succeeded on July 15, 2010, in stopping the oil flow. The seawater and coastline have been heavily polluted for decades. Many (endangered) animals are dying.