Key clue to oil spill recovered

A crane has hoisted a key piece of oil spill evidence to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, giving investigators their first chance to scrutinise the blowout preventer, the massive piece of equipment that failed to stop the gusher four months ago.

It took 29 hours to lift the 15.24m, 300-tonne blowout preventer from 1500m beneath the sea to the surface.

The five-storey-high device looked largely intact with black stains on the yellow metal.

FBI agents were among the 137 people on board the Helix Q4000 vessel, taking photos and video of the device, which will be analysed at a Nasa facility in Louisiana.