employees Two BP accused of murder in the Deepwater Horizon explosion case have declared their innocence, Agence France-Presse reports . They made this statement on November 28 at a court hearing in New Orleans.

The defendants, 62-year-old Robert Kaluza and 65-year-old Donald Vidrine, were senior oil company employees who were on the platform at the time of the explosion. In mid-November 2012, they were charged with murder and manslaughter for the 11 people killed in the Deepwater Horizon accident.

Vidrine and Calusa are charged with 11 counts of murder and 11 counts of manslaughter. For each count of murder they face up to 10 years in prison, and for each count of manslaughter - up to eight years.

Another BP executive, David Rainey, was charged with obstruction of justice for misrepresenting the amount of oil that spilled after the Deepwater Horizon sank. David Raney faces up to five years in prison. Rainey also does not admit his guilt.

The accident on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform , working for BP, occurred on April 20, 2010. The accident killed 11 people, and the well released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. BP specialists managed to eliminate the oil leak only after three months.

In mid-November 2012, BP admitted responsibility for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and agreed to pay US authorities $4.5 billion. Despite this move, the US Environmental Protection Agency on November 28 temporarily banned BP from entering into contracts with federal authorities. The Environmental Protection Agency motivated its decision by the deterioration of the company's business reputation in connection with its actions in eliminating the consequences of the Deepwater Horizon accident.

BP employees refuse to plead guilty to murder in platform explosion case