Usifzade added rescuers were also searching for three more workers who had been swept into the sea in an accident on another oil platform on Friday.
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Emergency crews were able to rescue 33 workers.
The oil rig’s stricken gas line had been damaged by winds of up to 144 kilometres an hour, the prosecution service said.
“According to our information, 32 workers died, while 42 workers were rescued last night….” Firefighters battled Saturday to control the fire, which is the deadliest incident in the company’s history, he said.
“The fire in the gas pipeline has not been completely extinguished and it has not been ruled out that it could spread to oil and gas wells near the platform”, it said.
As hopes of finding survivors faded, SOCAR said a severe storm was hampering rescue efforts at its platform in the Guneshli oil field.
In 1994, the government of Azerbaijan signed an agreement to develop the vast Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field with a consortium of foreign companies, including Britain’s BP, Norway’s Statoil, and American oil and gas giants Chevron and Exxonmobil. The workers in the other lifeboat were rescued Saturday, it said.
The workers were on a lifeboat that fell into stormy seas late Friday, and it was unclear if any would be found alive. On Saturday, SOCAR posted a statement on their Facebook page that said 26 workers aboard the rig had been taken to safety.
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The company lost five workers in 2013 and 14 previous year in similar accidents, said Mirvari Qahramanli, head of the Center for Protection of Oil Workers’ Rights, a Baku-based advocacy group.
