At least 32 workers have been killed in a blaze at an offshore oil platform in Azerbaijan-controlled waters in the Caspian Sea, Reuters reported.  

The casualties could rise even higher as officials said on Saturday that at least 30 workers are missing.

The cause of the accident is not known yet. Officials say 42 workers have been rescued.

"According to our information, 32 workers died, while 42 workers were rescued last night. ... The fire on the platform was finally extinguished," Mirvari Gakhramanly, the head of Azerbaijan's Oil Workers' Rights Protection Committee, told Reuters.

The platform belongs to Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company SOCAR. The company said on Friday that the fire had started after a gas pipeline on the platform was damaged in heavy wind. It said rescue attempts were being complicated by a severe storm.

One worker called a Reuters correspondent from the platform and said there were 84 people trapped there.

SOCAR also said on Friday that workers were missing after an accident at another offshore oil platform during the storm. A search and rescue operation was under way, it added.

In a separate incident, SOCAR said on Friday that three workers were missing from another of its offshore oil platforms in the Caspian after an accident during the storm.

The workers were still missing as of Saturday.

Around 60 percent of SOCAR's oil production passes via the platform where the fire broke out, meaning the company's output will be temporarily hit.

The bulk of Azerbaijan's oil is produced elsewhere, however, including on fields operated by British oil major BP.