ABOUT 80 men gathered in the cinema aboard the oil rig Alexander Kielland on the evening of 26 March 1980, but as 60mph winds buffeted their North Sea home the true drama was far from entertaining. The drill rig, converted after four years to accommodate workers, rested about 150 miles from both the Scottish and Norwegian mainland. The winds were unnaturally brutal that night when suddenly one of the platform legs gave way. The 10,000 tonne structure, the size of a football pitch, turned over onto its back into the freezing waters. It was a disaster of unthinkable proportions and left 123 men dead in what was the worst North Sea accident at the time.
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